BASKETBALL, volleyball and soccer players from Australia and other Oceania countries will be permitted to compete at the next edition of the Asian Games.

The Olympic Council of Asia confirmed after its general assembly over the weekend that athletes from Oceania would be eligible to compete in some team sports in Hangzhou in East China’s Zhejiang Province in September 2022.

Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates said he’d been campaigning for decades for inclusion at the quadrennial event, which was first staged in 1951 in India and most recently in Indonesia last year.

He said the invitation to the Oceania athletes is limited to sports, which qualify for the 2024 Olympics through Asia, including volleyball, beach volleyball, basketball, soccer and fencing.

“Australia is very grateful for this opportunity ... and there will be enormous interest from our Oceania neighbors,” Coates said in a statement.

“There’s a cap of 10,000 athletes for these games so there will need to be some decisions made along the way about which Australian men’s and women’s team will compete, but the critical thing is our place is confirmed for Hangzhou 2022 and that’s a very positive outcome for us.”

Australian athletes competed at the 2002 East Asian Games in Osaka, Japan, but were not eligible for medals. Oceania athletes have also been previously invited to compete at the Asian Winter Games and the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. “This has been quite a journey that ultimately will benefit athletes in this region,” Coates said.

The Oceania National Olympic Committees represent 17 countries across the Pacific.

(SD-Agencies)