Introduction

The Asian Olympic Academy (AOA) is an exciting new education initiative which is being launched by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). 

It will offer a series of a courses and qualifications which will train the sporting officials of the future, in areas such as governance and sports law.

Athletes preparing for life after their competitive careers end will be among those able to benefit from the AOA.

The initiative will be overseen by the OCA and run by South Korea's International Sport Strategy Foundation (ISF), which has International Olympic Committee member and Olympic table tennis gold medallist Ryu Seung-min as its President.

Courses will be taught at Kookmin University in Seoul, which was founded in 1946 as the country's first private university and boasts 23,000 students.

In October 2021, the OCA, ISF and Kookim University signed a memorandum of understanding to launch the AOA.

Its slogan is "We create champions of life!" with the initiative inspired by the International Olympic Academy (IOA) in Olympia in Greece.

The IOA provides a range of lectures and activities to students from around the world on Olympic topics.

Courses and teaching

The AOA will initially offer two courses which will both be a year in length. The first semester is due to begin in March 2023, with the first admission confirmed in September 2022.

These will be a masters in sports law, integrity and policy and a masters in sports governance.

Both courses will include 25 weeks of classes, a 10 week thesis and internships of 10 to 20 weeks for practice in the sports industry.

The law course will cover topics including sports arbitration, sports integrity, doping, dispute resolutions and sport policy.

Topics included as part of the sports management course will be match-fixing, anti-doping and sports ethics.

Classes and lectures will be offered with "high-class" international professors, teachers and industry leaders.

Teaching will include field trips and cultural experiences in South Korea, including to the Seoul Olympic Park, the Olympic and Paralympic Museum and the Incheon Asiad Hall.

Kookmin University will provide fast track visas for AOA students, with facilities including a dedicated lecture hall and dormitory.

Plans for the future

In December 2021, a new headquarters for the AOA will be finished at Kookim University.

A new AOA building is scheduled for 2025, and a sports complex building, including an international graduate school, is expected by 2028.