India Loses Asian Games 2012 bid to Korea

India failed in its bid to host the 2014 Asian Games at Delhi. Following this, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) openly blamed Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar's recent comments for it. Aiyar is reported to have remarked last week that holding of big Games made no difference to the poor in India.

It is believed that Aiyar opposed India's bid when the matter came up before the Union Cabinet, which, however, approved it five days ago after which the IOA delegation flew to Kuwait along with leading sportspersons such as Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Anju Bobby George for the bid. "This is a victory for Mani Shankar Aiyar," an upset IOA President Suresh Kalmadi said in a reference to the Minister's remarks last week to the effect 

The Games were awarded to the South Korean city of Incheon by the 45-member Olympic Council Asia (OCA) at the conclusion of its two-day General Assembly here. Incheon will become the third Korean city to host the Asian Games following Seoul in 1986 and Busan in 2002.