15th Asian Games

KUWAIT--High-powered delegations from India and South Korea endured a nerve-wracking wait Sunday as the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) prepared to decide which would be awarded the 2014 Asian Games.

The nod will be made on Tuesday here by the 45 member nations of the OCA during its general assembly headed by council president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.

Plenty is at stake with the winner traditionally benefiting from huge economic spin-offs attached to hosting a multi sport event second only to the Olympics and beamed to two-thirds of humanity.

Economic analysts predict that becoming host city will help create tens of thousands of jobs as well as generate millions of dollars in income from broadcasting rights, advertising and tourism.

It also serves to put the the city on the map, with the prospect of major inflows of foreign investment.

Indian capital New Delhi, which has touted itself as "the bid of a billion people", is seen as favorite over the port city of Incheon, with South Korea having already hosted the Games in 2002 in Busan.

In contrast, India has been overlooked since it lasted played host in 1982, winning just two votes when it applied to hold the 2006 Games that eventually went to Doha.

It also hosted the Games in its inaugural edition in 1951.

Indian officials feel they are a shoo-in having been picked to hold the 2010 Commonwealth Games, arguing that all the infrastructure will already be in place.

Importantly, they have the backing of powerful neighbor China, with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing pledging the communist country's support during a visit to Delhi in February.

"It is time the Asian Games return to India," Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi said last week.

"Hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010 will give us the necessary infrastructure and experience to organize the Asian Games."

But Incheon bid leader Shin Yong-Suk has made clear he is far from happy that New Delhi is even being considered, saying it is not fair for the same city to be running for a third time.

He is also unhappy with New Delhi's offer of free air tickets and accommodation to athletes and officials in 2014.

"It is not good for the Asian Games," Shin told Agence France-Presse in Doha in December, adding that he had no problem with another Indian city such as Madras or Mumbai applying to be host.

In an effort to show off their financial credentials, Incheon, the third largest city in South Korea, claim their city budget will grow to $18.2 billion by 2014 when it will be a high-tech metropolis.

They have planned for 37 venues. Eleven of them exist already, 22 will be built while four will be ungraded.

South Korea also has experience of hosting mega events, with the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the Asian Games in Seoul in 1986 and Busan in 2002.

The Asian Games bid is part of triple-pronged drive by the country to attract the world's biggest sporting spectacles.

Pyeongchang is one of three cities in the running to host the 2014 Winter Olympics while Daegu was selected last month to host the World Athletics Championships in 2011, beating Brisbane and Halifax, Canada.

Hosting an Asian Games is a monumental task and the bar was set even higher by Doha in December which staged what was generally considered the best Asiad to date.

To many in Asia, the Asian Games are bigger than the Olympics and 45 countries will compete in 39 sports at the 2010 Asiad in Guangzhou, although the number of sports is expected to be trimmed by 2014.