Future of cricket at the Asian Games hangs in the balance
Crucial for Hong Kong to bat on at Jakarta in 2018 but hosts not keen on the code, though regional Olympic Council hopes to change their minds
The future of cricket at the Asian Games hangs in the balance after the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) delayed a decision on the sport's exclusion from the next edition of the multisports event in Jakarta in 2018.
It is crucial for Hong Kong that the sport remains in the Asian Games as it allows the code to get support from the Hong Kong Sports Institute, which in the past funded a few players under the Individual Athletes Support Scheme.
Cricket's chances are not dead yet. I think the OCA wants it in [the Asian Games] for marketing and television revenue
But the Indonesian Olympic Committee, the organisers of the Jakarta Asian Games, are not keen on having cricket as a medal sport and have not listed it among the six sports they can include by right of being the hosts of the Games.
However, the OCA is keen to include cricket and deferred a decision at last week's executive council meeting in Tehran, leaving it until September in an apparent attempt to change the minds of the organising panel.
"Cricket's chances are not dead yet," said an OCA insider. "I think the OCA wants it in for marketing and television revenue. There is an OCA team going next month [to Jakarta] for another look and in August we will have a second coordination committee meeting which will make the recommendations.
"The OCA general assembly in September in Turkmenistan will then finalise the sports programme for the Asian Games."
