Saudi Arabia will host the 2025 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, an event that will be an important warm-up for the Asian Games that Riyadh is due to stage in 2034.

The decision was approved by acclamation during the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly here today.

It is due to be the seventh edition of a Games that features a variety of sports, ranging from traditional Asian events such as pencak silat, sepak takraw and muaythai, to Olympic disciplines such as 3x3 basketball, badminton and taekwondo.

Newer events, like esports and cheerleading, are also due to feature in the next edition of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.  

The competition is the second-largest event organised by the OCA after the Asian Games.

The last edition of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, held in Ashgabat in Turkmenistan in 2017, featured more than 4,000 athletes from 63 countries.

That figure included all 45 OCA members and 18 guest nations from Oceania and the Pacific.