Launched in Bali, Indonesia, in 2008, the Asian Beach Games, a creation of the OCA, is a multi-sport event held every two years on beaches across the continent.

It has proved a huge hit across the continent with a lot of interest from National Olympic Committees due to the relatively low cost of hosting such an event, with only temporary venues needed to hold different sports, and the high potential for tourism promotion.

Wei claimed beach and sea sports also offered a fresh and modern presentation of international sport, with catchy background music and a party atmosphere.

"Not only beach volleyball but all beach sports, the pioneer is the Olympic Council of Asia and in particular the OCA President, Sheikh Ahmad  Al Fahad Al Sabah," said Wei, who is also Honorary Life President of the International Volleyball Federation, here during the Asian Games.  

"Beach and sea sports are becoming more and more popular and sports federations are wanting to take their sports to the beach, for example athletics.

"Sheikh Ahmad has opened a new horizon for modern sport."

Olympic Council of Asia honorary life vice-president Wei Jizhong pins the Asian Beach Games as the key to the global boom in such events around the world ©Getty Images


The Asian Beach Games are a pioneer in this effort to bring new sports to the sand, as proved in the upcoming Games in Phuket, Thailand, Wei claimed. 

Being held from November 14 until 23, the fourth edition of the Games consists of 26 sports and 168 gold medals.

The sports programme includes, for the first time, athletics, modern pentathlon and flag football alongside the likes of beach soccer, beach volleyball, beach handball, sailing and jetski sport.

The popularity of these Games has not been lost on the rest of the world, with the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), of which Sheikh Ahmad is also President, planning to stage a World Beach Games in the next couple of years.

The Games, which is expected to make its debut in 2017, will be organised jointly by ANOC and SportAccord, the umbrella organisation for all Olympic and non-Olympic international sports federations.

South America also hosts its own continental Beach Games, first held in Uruguay in 2009, which took inspiration from its Asian equivalent, while the International University Sports Federation is set to hosts it's first International University Beach Games in Maceió, Brazil from November 30 to December 8.

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