June 04, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1429

BEIJING, June 3: Forget about football and cricket – Asians love the Olympics best and hosting the Games in Beijing only adds to the attraction for some fans in the region, said a survey published on Tuesday.

Asked to rank global sporting events in order of interest, 4,556 Asians in nine countries put the Olympics top, with football’s World Cup second.

The Asian Games, often regarded as the region’s own version of the Olympics, ranked third.

“The high level of interest bodes well for the coming Olympic Games, which traditionally attracts billions of viewers,” said a statement from Olympic worldwide partner Visa, which commissioned the survey.

Three out of four respondents put the Games on top, with 59 percent favouring football World Cup and 49 percent backing the Asian Games. Next came the cricket World Cup (37 percent) and Formula One Grand Prix motor racing (36).

Beijing organisers have confidently predicted that television viewing figures for the Aug 8-24 Games will break four billion worldwide.

“A record-breaking 3.9 billion watched the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, while 3.6 billion watched the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games,” said the statement.

According to the survey, interest in the Games was heightened in some countries by the fact that it was being held in China.

“More than half of all respondents said they would be interested in the Olympic Games no matter where it was held,” it said.

“But interest in the host city, Beijing, was a strong pull factor for people in Hong Kong, Malaysia and India.”—AFP