Cricket and sambo among sports removed from 2018 Asian Games programme

Baseball and softball are unaffected by the changes

（InsidetheGames, Wednesday, 19 April 2017）Cricket, skateboarding, sambo and surfing are among sports removed from the programme for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang in order to reduce the burden on Indonesian organisersAs part of a series of changes reducing the total number of events contested from 493 to 431, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) confirmed to insidethegames that kurash and belt wrestling events have also been completely omitted.　　There will also be reduced competitions in the sports of ju jitsu, jet ski, sport climbing, paragliding, bridge and wushuThis followed a meeting between OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah and Indonesian vice-president and Jakarta-Palembang Steering Committee (INASGOC) President Muhammad Jusuf Kalla in the Indonesian capitalRoller skating is still "up for negotiation" with the organisers and could still be removed.　Non-Olympic weight categories in taekwondo have also been taken off"We hope these changes will make the Games more cost effective," OCA director general Husain Al-Musallam told insidethegames todayA possible exception to this could be equestrian after the sport's inclusion was "put on hold" pending the election of a new President of the Asian Equestrian Federation (AEF) by August 18 this year - one year before the scheduled start of the continental wide eventThis follows the resignation of AEF President Sang Jin Park, who is also the Korea National Federation President and President of Samsung Electronics, in connection with bribery allegations in his home country. 　　No replacement has been elected and the OCA claim that the continental body are not currently functioning.Baseball and softball, karate, bowling, kabaddi, sepak takraw, squash and soft tennis are also unaffected by the changes. 　（Read the full story on InsidetheGames）rnrn