Vietnam said today it had decided against hosting the 2019 Asian Games for financial reasons, and was exploring procedures to withdraw from staging the region's largest sporting event.
There was scant public jubilation when the communist country's capital was chosen in 2012 to host the showpiece competition and public sentiment has hardened against the move, with even tightly-controlled state-run newspapers criticising the move in recent weeks.
Vietnam will "quickly work with the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) for measures to pull out from the hosting of ASIAD 18 in Hanoi", said a statement posted on the government's website after Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung convened a meeting to examine the issue.
A lack of experience in hosting large sporting events and "difficulties in the country's socio-economic situation" were cited as reasons.
"Vietnam will apply for the hosting of ASIAD at an appropriate time," the statement said.
Hanoi in November 2012 won the right to host the 2019 Asian Games, beating Indonesia's second city Surabaya after Dubai in the United Arab Emirates pulled out just before the vote.
