NEW DELHI –

Better marketing for the Asian Games and getting more sponsors on board will be high on the agenda when Randhir Singh takes over as president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Sunday, the veteran administrator said.

The 77-year-old Indian has been the OCA acting president since 2021, filling in for Kuwait's Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who was handed a 15-year ban from sports administration in May this year over ethics breaches.

A five-time Olympic shooter, Singh is the lone eligible candidate for the OCA president's post and his elevation will be confirmed in Sunday's OCA general assembly in New Delhi.

"We are financially very strong as it is," Singh said ahead of the OCA gathering.

"The idea now is to get more and more sponsors on board, and you can't do it if you don't sell the Games.

"People should be more aware of these Games. If awareness comes, money would automatically follow."

The OCA also hosts the Asian Winter Games, Beach Games, Youth Games, Indoor Games and Martial Arts Games.

Singh was particularly bullish about the appeal of the Asian Games, which is second in size only to the Summer Olympics.

"Hangzhou raised the bar last year and Nagoya-Aichi will have a tough time to match it," he said referring to the 2022 and the 2026 hosts of the Games, respectively.

The benchmark will be further raised by Doha and Riyadh in the subsequent Games, Singh predicted.

A former Asian Games gold medalist himself, Singh said Olympic sport in the continent was in robust health.

He singled out the performance of China, which equaled the Unites States' tally of 40 gold medals at the Paris Olympics but finished behind in the silver medal count.

"Financially, we are very strong, the standard of our game is among the best in the world, and our athletes are doing extremely well as you saw in Paris."

The enduring appeal of the Games and the infrastructure in the continent put the OCA in an enviable position, Singh said.

"I believe we are the only continent that has enough countries to host any Games at any given point of time," he said.

"China, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — these three countries are in a position to hold any Games any time.

"We don't have to worry if a host country pulls out at the last moment for some reason.

"Several Asian countries are capable of hosting the Olympics. It's a great position to be in."

Nagoya-Aichi will be the third time Japan hosts the Games, after Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994.

On Saturday, it was announced that a baseball stadium in Nagoya will be repurposed to host the cricket competition of the 2026 Asian Games, rather than a cricket ground in Tochigi Prefecture as previously proposed. The decision was made due to logistical challenges.

"The only problem with the stadium which JCA (Japan Cricket Association) had offered is the distance," OCA Deputy Director General Vinod Kumar Tiwari said.

"Also, if you're hosting an international tournament, you need enough hotels around, which are not there at the moment. That's why we are not considering it.

"The organizing committee has proposed one of the baseball stadiums (in Nagoya) to be converted into a cricket ground. That looks much more feasible."

OCA and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) officials will inspect the venue later this month and Tiwari said the Japanese organizers were keen on having cricket, which proved a major success at the Hangzhou Games last year.

"Cricket has been included in the 2028 Olympic Games as well. So the organizing committee is very keen on including that in the 2026 Asian Games as well."

Cricket featured in Hangzhou but wasn't part of the 2018 Games in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.