The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on 2 December announced that the Asian Youth Games 2025 would be held in Bahrain after Uzbekistan withdrew as host.
“An online meeting of the OCA Executive Board on Monday, 2 December, heard that the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan had sent a letter to the OCA saying they were unable to host the AYG as scheduled in September 2025 as the construction of the Olympic City in Tashkent would not be completed on time,” the statement said.
The OCA director general Husain Al Musallam said the 2025 Games were linked to the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal in 2026 regarding the age restrictions and qualification, so the Games could not be postponed.
The Bahrain Olympic Committee said they were ready to host the AYG in 2025 in terms of sports venues, accommodation and medical services.
The meeting also heard that Bahrain had successfully hosted the International School Sport Federation (ISF) Gymnasiade 2024 in October, with over 5,000 participants including 4,000 athletes.
The OCA executive board thanked Uzbekistan’s National Olympic Committee “for all their investment, saying Uzbekistan would be able to host major events in the future”.
Uzbekistan was awarded the right to host the 2025 Asian Youth Games in Doha in September 2019. In August 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan approved measures to prepare for the event.
In November 2022, president Shavkat Mirziyoyev laid the foundation stone for the Olympic Village, which was being constructed for the games.
The project, spanning 104 hectares, was estimated to cost over $289 million. After the games, the complex was to house the Ministry of Sports, as well as sports academies and federations.
