Central Asian Games

The Central Asian Games is one of five subregional Games of the Olympic Council of Asia. The others are the East Asian Youth Games, the South Asian Games, the Southeast Asian Games, and the West Asian Games.

History

In April 1994, President of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch visited Tashkent, Uzbekistan. During the meeting, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov asked him about the possibility of hosting the Olympic Games in Tashkent, to which the IOC President replied that for this, at the request of the Olympic Charter, serious competitions, at least regional ones, should be held. After this, a meeting of the heads of the National Olympic Committees of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan was held in Tashkent, at which a decision was made to organize the Central Asian Games.

Despite the fact that the games should be held every two years, for various reasons they have been canceled more than once, and after 2005 have not actually been held. The Games where scheduled to be revived for 2021 after National Olympic Committee Chairs from the respective countries met in Kazakhstan in February 2020.