Husain Al-Musallam, director-general of the Olympic Council of Asia, sends a video message to the 1st World Press Briefing for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 in Hangzhou on Oct 18. [Photo/hangzhou2022.cn]

The director-general of the Olympic Council of Asia Husain Al-Musallam welcomed local and international media outlets to the 1st World Press Briefing for the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 in Hangzhou on Oct 18.

With media based in China attending the two-day briefing in person at the Hangzhou International Expo Center and overseas media joining online, Al-Musallam said that the media plays a large role in the promotion of the Asian Games.

"Media plays an important role in the successful conduct of the Asian Games and spread of Olympic values around the globe," he said in his video message at the opening ceremony.

"The OCA works closely with the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee to offer the best working and living environment for all our media friends, such as a convenient transportation network, a comfortable Asian Games Media Village, a well-equipped media press center, and an easily accessible information system."

"Taking this opportunity, I hope this World Press Briefing will provide ample opportunities for our media friends to receive information concerning the Asian Games, and I am confident that the OCA and HAGOC media services team will answer all your questions and inquiries in these two days of meetings and venue inspections. We look forward to meeting you all next year in Hangzhou."

The 19th Asian Games will take place next year from September 10 to 25 in Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang province in East China, and five co-host cities.

There will be 40 sports, 61 disciplines, and 482 events taking place, with 5 million tickets available for the 600 sports sessions and ceremonies. E-sports and breaking will be making their debut as medal sports in the Asian Games.

Of the 55 competition venues, 44 had been completed by the end of September.

All competition venues, as well as the main Asian Games Village, will be completed by the end of the year, in time for trial operations that will take place next March.

The media also learned that 266,000 people had applied to be volunteers. In addition, the Asian Games' marketing programme has attracted 10 prestige partners, as well as 72 sponsors and suppliers.

The media village will be located in the main Asian Games Village, 3 km from the main stadium, and will be able to accommodate 5,000 media members, although 3,300 of these media professionals can also stay in official hotels in the city and co-host cities. The media village is just one part of the main Asian Games Village, along with the Athletes' Village, which can accommodate 10,400 athletes and team officials, as well as the Technical Officials' Village, which can house 3,800 people.

The briefing attracted 400 representatives of 110 media organizations from 32 countries and regions, as well as 24 International Federations and Asian Federations. Delegates from the World University Games Chengdu 2022, Sanya Asian Beach Games, Shantou Asian Youth Games, and 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 also attended the event.