The Chefs de Mission (CDM) Seminar for the 17th Asian Games came to a conclusion on Monday afternoon after two days of venue tours, meetings, presentations and consultations.

The gathering of team leaders ahead of the Incheon Asian Games, which will run from September 19 to October 4, 2014, enabled organising committee IAGOC to give detailed explanations on various aspects of logistics and operations, including transport, accommodation, medical and anti-doping services and accreditation.

Summing up the seminar, the OCA’s Hon. Life Vice President, Wei Jizhong, said: “Through the CDM Seminar we have received a lot of suggestions – general suggestions involving all NOCs and individual suggestions regarding specific items. Between the OCA and IAGOC we are responsible to give you the answer to every question because this is our duty.”

Addressing the NOCs, Mr Wei added: “After all the questions are solved, please follow the handbook, the manual and the decision. In this way we can work together to make the coming Asian Games very smooth and very successful.”

At the start of the seminar on Monday morning, IAGOC Secretary General Dr Kwon Kyung Sang said, with 291 days to go to the opening ceremony on September 19, IAGOC had accelerated preparations. The Main Stadium is 81 per cent complete, and Dr Kwon assured delegates that the Athletes’ Village, Media Village and all 49 competition venues “will be ready without any difficulty”.

Mr Haider Farman, Director of the OCA Asian Games Department, urged NOCs to follow the timelines to ensure a smooth environment for their delegations and stressed that it was the responsibility of the NOCs to raise and resolve any issues in a timely manner.

Here are some of the key dates, deadlines, facts and figures for the 17th Asian Games:

*Sports: 36 sports/48 disciplines and 437 events. There will be 52 Technical Delegates and 2,300 technical officials, 13,000 athletes and team officials from 45 NOCs and 7,000 media; 49 competition venues, 23 of which are new.

*New events at the 17th Asian Games are:  Archery – Compound, men’s/women’s individual, team; Triathlon – Mixed Relay; Judo – Men’s/Women’s Team.

*Entry by Sport (deadline was October 31): 15,299 athletes entered by 44 NOCs. Entry by Number deadline: June 20, 2014. Entry by Name deadline: August 15, 2014

*Test events at Asiad competition venues in 2014: 43rd National Junior Sports Festival, May 31 to June 3, 29 sports; International/national individual sports events in 18 sports, including athletics, cycling, shooting, tennis, sailing, karate, cricket, boxing and hockey.

*Pre Delegation Registration Meetings for NOCs will be held at the two Olympic Solidarity/OCA Regional Forums in Myanmar and Bahrain in May.

*Accreditation cards will serve as multiple entry visas into Korea from August 20 to October 19. Eight Accreditation Centres will be in operation, including the Athletes’ Village and Incheon International Airport.
*The online accreditation system will be in operation from December 6, 2013, to April 30, 2014, at: http://acr.incheon2014ag.org

*Public Transport in Incheon, including the Metro and bus service, will be free from September 5 to October 7 as IAGOC will issue transportation cards to athletes and officials.

*In addition to the Athletes’ Village housing 13,000 athletes and officials, there will be one Athlete Sub Village for Rowing at Tangeum Lake International Rowing Regatta Venue in Chungju, 133km from the main Athletes’ Village.

*A total of 28 hospitals, with 16 in Incheon, have been designated to provide medical services in addition to the Polyclinic in the Athletes’ Village and the medical stations at non-competition venues.

*Anti-doping: A total of 1,920 samples will be collected from athletes from the opening of the Athletes’ Village on September 12 until October 4.

*Ceremonies: The opening ceremony on September 19 will run for 160 minutes, from 7pm to 9.40pm. The closing ceremony on October 4 will last for 130 minutes, from 7pm to 9.10pm. Venue: Incheon Asiad Main Stadium.

*Torch Relay: International relay – August 19-23, flame lighting at New Delhi, India, host city of the first Asian Games in 1951; Hanoi – host city of 18th Asian Games in 2019. Domestic relay – August 24-September 19, through Korea’s 17 major cities and provinces.

*Cultural Activities: 100-day countdown K-Pop festival on June 11; Asian food festival with prominent Asian chefs and designated National Day for food and culture.

*Media: International Broadcast Centre at Songdo Convensia, September 5-Ocober 6; Main Press Centre at POSCO Model House, September 5-October 6. MPC will have three press conference rooms.

Bhutan was represented by Mr. Karma Penden, Program Officer, International Relations Department (first from right, second row)