The Doha 2006 Asian Games are set to be the biggest Asian Games to date: a record 12,000 participants from 45 nations will compete in 39 sports.
The Doha Games will have over 120 hours of live coverage on Eurosport and Eurosport 2. This coverage starts before the opening ceremony on 1 December with preliminary rounds in Football and Basketball on 28 and 30 November and will end on 15 December.
Eurosport, which reaches 108 million homes across 59 countries, will broadcast 46 hours including 36 hours live, covering the traditional Olympic sports Athletics, Swimming, Artistic Gymnastics, Rowing, Canoeing and Table Tennis, plus Football.
In addition, Eurosport 2, the new sports channel launched in 2005 and already available across 40 countries, will transmit 150 hours including 86 hours live, focusing on the Olympic team sports Basketball, Volleyball, Handball and Field Hockey as well as Football and Snooker. Eurosport 2 will also enable European viewers to discover two “local” sports Sepaktakraw and Kabaddi.
The Asian Games are the first step on the road to the 2008 Olympic Games. Further major events in Eurosport’s build-up to Beijing 2008 include the World Swimming Championships in Melbourne in March 2007 and the World Athletics Championships in Osaka in August 2007.
