RP formalizes bid to host Asian trackfest

The Philippines, through its two major sports bodies, formally put the hosting of the Asian Championships next year in the can by paying the $20,000 sanction fee to the Asian Amateur Athletics Association (4As) only recently.

In doing so, the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association beat to the gun the last-minute bid of Japan to bring the prestigious meet to its place and now simply has to wait for its turn to lure Asia’s best tracksters for a weeklong competition.

"It’s done, there’s no more turning back. Manila will host the Asian Championships for the third time in three decades," said PATAFA chief Go Teng Kok.

PSC chairman Eric Buhain, for his part, directed a specially-created group to start working for the Asian Championships even as he tries to fix his tight schedule to go to Sri Lanka next month to formally accept the ceremonial flag as the 2003 host of the Asian Championships.