Japan's Aichi prefecture and its capital city Nagoya were confirmed as co-hosts of the 2026 Asian Games on Sunday, adding yet another major event to the country's bulging international sports calendar.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) formally endorsed the bid after Aichi Prefecture governor Hideaki Ohumra and Nagoya city mayor Takashi Kawamura presented their joint offering to the OCA General Assembly in Danang, which is currently hosting the 5th Asian Beach Games.

The OCA had originally planned to choose the 2026 Asian Games host in 2018 but brought the vote forward to provide some stability to the region's crammed sporting calendar which includes three Olympic events over the next eight years.

South Korea is already hosting the Winter Olympics at Pyeonchang in 2018, while Tokyo hosts the 2020 Summer Olympics before the winter games go to Beijing in 2022. Held every four years, the 2018 Asian Games have already been awarded to the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang while the 2022 edition will be held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. 

Tokyo is also hosting the next Olympic games in 2020 while Japan will stage the Rugby World Cup in 2019, the Asian Winter Games in 2017 and the world swimming championships in 2021.

Japan has hosted the Asian Games twice before, at Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994, and the awarding of the 20th edition in 2026 is the latest in a series of major sporting events heading to the country over the next decade.

Source : QNA