COLOMBO, June 12, 2007 (AFP) - Sri Lanka has turned down an offer to host the 17th Asian Athletics Championship in July and August citing the cost, an official said Tuesday.
The AAA inquired from us if we could host the event,'' a Sri Lankan Athletic Association official who declined to be named told AFP. We would have loved to have done that, but the cost was too much.’’
He said it was difficult for Sri Lanka to raise the required 1.5 million dollars to host the games originally scheduled for Beirut.
The Beirut games were cancelled ``in view of the prevailing violent conditions,’’ the Asian Athletics Association said, and it is now eyeing Indian venues at Pune in western Maharashtra state or Hyderabad in southern Andhra Pradesh state.
Sri Lanka hosted the 10th South Asian Federation Games in Colombo last August and struggled to raise money for the event.