Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Shakhbout concludes East Asia tour with meeting of sports officials in Hong Kong

Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Bin Sultan Bin Shakhbout Al Nahyan, President of the Asian Chess Federation, concluded his visit to East Asia, which included the China and Hong Kong, as part of the federation’s efforts to strengthen relations with sports institutions and chess federations across the continent and expand areas of cooperation aimed at developing the game, its programmes, and Asian championships.

Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa concluded his tour with a visit to the headquarters of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, where he met Timothy Fok, President of the Committee and Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia, and his son Kenneth Fok, Vice President of the Committee, in the presence of a number of sports leaders.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to strengthen sports cooperation and enhance the presence of chess within the Asian sporting framework. They also exchanged views on opportunities to expand partnerships between the Asian Chess Federation and Olympic and sports institutions across the continent.

Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa stressed the importance of building strong partnerships with National Olympic Committees and Asian sports bodies in order to broaden participation in chess and further strengthen the game’s standing. He noted that the next phase will see increased direct engagement with national federations and sports institutions, as well as the launch of initiatives and programmes serving players, coaches, arbiters, and all other stakeholders within the chess community.

The Asian Chess Federation President also attended part of the Asian Individual Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Hong Kong, which attracted a distinguished field of leading players and international masters, reflecting the rapid development of chess across the continent and the increasingly high technical standard of Asian competitions.

Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa was accompanied during the visit by Bharat Singh Chauhan, Deputy President of the Asian Chess Federation; Hisham Al Taher, Secretary General of the Federation; and Sahapol Nakvanich, Treasurer.

Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa affirmed that the Asian Chess Federation regards East Asia as one of the key pillars of the game’s development across the continent, given the region’s broad player base and its extensive organisational and technical expertise.

He stressed that the federation will continue working closely with all its member federations to build a stronger Asian chess community and enhance Asia’s presence and influence on the global chess stage.