Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani reportedly said he planned to allocate special funds and create a four-year plan for the development and promotion of sports in the country ©Getty Images

An Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) delegation is expected to visit Kabul in the near future as the continental governing body looks to evolve an Afghanistan Olympic Council (AOC) policy.

According to Pajhwok Afghan News, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani held a meeting with OCA head Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah on the day of the Opening Ceremony for the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games here in Turkmenistan’s capital.

Ghani reportedly said he planned to allocate special funds and create a four-year plan for the development and promotion of domestic sports.

It is claimed he asked Sheikh Ahmad to send a delegation to Kabul for making the AOC policy and an election mechanism for National Olympic Committee.

Sheikh Ahmad is said to have responded by confirming an OCA team would visit Afghanistan after Ashgabat 2017.

When contacted by insidethegames, an OCA spokesperson said that director general Husain Al-Musallam and sports director Haider Farman will be its representatives. 

While in Turkmenistan, Ghani also met with his Presidential counterparts from Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, and the host nation, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.

Sheikh Ahmad reportedly said the fifth edition of the AIMAG helped improve ties among nations and that the OCA is ready for any kind of cooperation when it comes to developing the sports sector.

OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah has said a team from the continental governing body would visit Afghanistan after the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games ©Minjae Kim/Facebook
OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah has said a team from the continental governing body would visit Afghanistan after the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games ©Minjae Kim/Facebook

Earlier this year, Afghanistan National Olympic Committee (A-NOC) Acting President Mahmod Hanif has called upon the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and OCA to recognise his position.

In a letter sent to Pere Miró, the IOC’s deputy director general for relations with the Olympic Movement, Hanif claimed the A-NOC is "really surprised" that its General Assembly decision to elect him as acting President - taken in Ashgabat on the sidelines of the 2015 OCA General Assembly - has so been ignored.

Zahir Aghbar is being backed as A-NOC President by the IOC and OCA.

It is claimed in the letter that the A-NOC communicated the General Assembly’s decision "many times" to the IOC and OCA.

A timeline states that three letters were sent last year to the IOC and OCA via mail and e-mail, dated August 21, August 31 and September 5.

The latter is said to have been accompanied by a "verbal testimonial of the National Federations".