AYG to start recruiting volunteers: organizers

The volunteer recruitment program of the 2013 Nanjing Asian Youth Games (AYG) will be officially launched on Monday, the organizing committee announced in a press conference held at the State Council Information Office in Beijing on Tuesday.

An estimated 15,000 volunteers will be recruited by the end of this year, according to Liu Yi'an, vice president and secretary-general of the Nanjing Asian Youth Games Organizing Committee.

"We'll recruit some 15,000 volunteers, a vast majority of whom are college and university students based mainly in Nanjing and nearby regions. We also welcome applications from other parts of China, as well as overseas," Liu said at the press conference.

Nanjing, the capital city of East China's Jiangsu Province, was awarded the hosting right of the Asian Youth Games on November 14, 2010, the same year the city won the bid to stage the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games.

The Nanjing Asian Youth Games will last eight days from August 16 to 24, 2013 and will attract about 2,300 young athletes from around 45 countries and regions in Asia. Those athletes aged from 14 to 17 will participate in 118 events of 15 sports, including swimming, tennis, three-a-side basketball, golf, rugby, squash and soccer.　

Staging the Asian Youth Games in 2013 and the Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014 successfully will be the city's short-term goal, Liu said. However, taking on the opportunities provided by these two sports extravaganzas, Nanjing is aiming to grow into a city that is well known for its abundant sports resources. And Liu did not rule out the possibility that Nanjing will one day bid to host the Asian Games or even the Olympic Games.

"We can say that Nanjing is fully capable of hosting an Asian Games or even an Olympic Games in terms of infrastructure, but we will see. It should not be the city's own decision, but a joint decision with the State," Liu noted when being asked by the Global Times if Nanjing is eying to bid for the Asian Games or the Olympic Games.

On the other hand, Zhang Haifeng, director-general of Press and Publicity Department of China's General Administration of Sport, said at the press conference that China hosting another Olympic Games should be a long-term plan.

"It took London more than 100 years to host three Olympic Games. Tokyo first held the Olympic Games in 1964 and is still trying hard to bid for another chance. So although many Chinese cities hope to make the bid, we have to wait for the right time," Zhang said.