Organizers: Asian Winter Games improtant to winter sports development

The ninth Asian Winter Games is one day away from its opening ceremony on Friday in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The organizing committee and the Olympic Council of Asia held a media briefing at the Main Press Centre (MPC) on Thursday to answer questions from Chinese and international media regarding the preparations for the Games, event services and support processes, as well as highlights of the upcoming opening ceremony.

CGTN Sports Scene's Greg Laffradi was at the press conference. Responding to a question, Husain Al-Musallam, Director General of Olympic Council of Asia, said that the Asian Winter Games play an important role in helping athletes develop and thrive on the international stage.

Al-Musallam believes that the Asian Winter Games has been encouraging more countries where there is no infrastructure for winter sports to develop the sports and send their athletes to the program. As time went on more and more teams participated in the Games, which then became a stimulus for winter sports to grow in their countries.