COLOMBO, June 12: Sri Lanka has turned down an offer to host the 17th Asian Athletics Championship in July and August citing the cost, an official said on Tuesday.

“The Asian Athletics Association (AAA) inquired from us if we could host the event,” a Sri Lankan Athletic Association official, who declined to be named, said.

“We would have loved to have done that, but the cost was too much.”

He added it was difficult for Sri Lanka to raise the required $1.5 million to host the games originally scheduled for Beirut.

The Beirut games were cancelled in view of the prevailing violent conditions, the AAA said, and it is now eyeing Indian venues at Pune in western Maharashtra state or Hyderabad in southern Andhra Pradesh state.

Sri Lanka hosted the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo last August and struggled to raise money for the event.

—AFP