The Asian/Pacific Games?

Currently taking place a long way away from here (Incheon, South Korea to be exact) and a long way from Americans' collective radar are the Asian Games, the largest international multi-sports event in the world outside the Olympics.  This is a very interesting time for the Asian Games.  Incheon spent millions, and Hanoi, Vietnam, which was supposed to host the next edition in 2019 pulled out as host due to the cost.  Instead, the next edition was moved up to 2018, and Jakarta, Indonesia has been announced as the replacement host.

But, the hosting issues aside, the most interesting news coming out of the Asian Games is that they might not be the "Asian" Games much longer.  Or, I should say, just the Asian Games.  They've already approved letting the countries from Oceania participate in the Asian Indoor Games, and you'd have to figure participation in the Asian Winter Games, as well as the Asian Games themselves isn't far behind.

I have to say, that makes a lot of sense for everyone involved.  When we say "Oceania," we of course mean Australia and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand.  Tuvalu and Palau and Fiji and all those other Pacific islands would obviously be included, too, but they're not the reason this is being discussed.  This is being discussed because the Asian Games sees the value of adding Australia.  And Australia would undoubtedly benefit from the increased competition they often fail to get in regional events, where New Zealand is usually the only nation that's remotely close to the same class.

That overall lack of competition is the main reason why the Australian soccer team left Oceania for Asia following the 2006 World Cup.  That move has paid off very nicely.  Australia has qualified for the last two World Cups and become one of the top teams in the region.  New Zealand, meanwhile, which became the top team in Oceania by default, languishes in the 50s with its world ranking, and its World Cup chances are left to a playoff against another region, which is obviously going to be a very strong opponent (they drew Bahrain in 2010 and won, but lost to Mexico in 2014).

For Australia and New Zealand, being stuck in regional competition with all the small Pacific islands doesn't help them when it comes to bigger events and the opponents are obviously significantly stronger.  It also doesn't help them that the populations of countries like Tonga and Kiribati are so small that they can't even field a team in a lot of sports. 

And forget about winter sports.  There's no competitive forum for Australian winter athletes other than the worldwide international events.  Despite this significant obstacle, Australia's winter sports programs have gotten significantly stronger.  They sent 60 athletes to Sochi and won three medals, the sixth straight Winter Olympics in which Australia won at least one medal.  (In fact, it was the first time since 1998 that Australia didn't win at least one gold at a Winter Olympics.)

Asia and Oceania being combined in sporting competition isn't unprecedented.  The IAAF Continental Cup just ended, and Asia/Pacific was a combined squad.  (So were the Americas for that matter.)  And from a competitive standpoint, it would obviously help Australia, but you'd have to think it would also help the Asian athletes to have Australia there, even if it means there'd be less medals available to some of the smaller Asian countries.

Most importantly, it makes financial sense for the Olympic Council of Asia, which runs the Asian Games.  Australia is a first-world nation that obviously has a very strong economy.  Incheon's going extremely over-budget and the Hanoi situation has made it clear that some of these smaller Asian nations simply can't afford to host these events.  Australia would have no problem taking on those costs, and there are plenty of Australian cities that would make capable hosts of an Asian Games or similar event.

With the next two Olympics after Rio taking place in Asia (and two of the three finalists for 2022 also being from Asia), as well as the 2018 World Cup currently scheduled for Qatar, it's clear that Asian nations are willing to take on the highest-profile events.  But the Asian Games are a different story.  Adding Oceania could raise their profile, especially given how much Australians love their sports. 

Who knows, maybe adding Oceania to the Asian Games would lead to a greater cooperation between the two regions.  Maybe it would even result in Asia/Oceania eventually merging into a single confederation across the board.  The way I see it, that would benefit everybody.