The cabinet today rejected the Olympic Council of Malaysia's (OCM) plan to bid for the 2010 Asian games due to the high cost it would incur.

Youth and Sports Minister Azalina Othman Said revealed that the estimated cost to host the 16 th Asian Games is about RM1.3 million.

She said the ministry's secretary-general has been instructed to inform the OCM about the cabinet's decision.

"But today's decision does not mean that Malaysia is not interested to host major international events in the future.

"But right now, since we have just formed a government under the new leadership...the cost (of hosting the Asiad) is too high to bear," she was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Azalina said she would meet OCM president Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafar to discuss the cabinet's rejection and also the council's future plans.

Out of the race

Asked if the cabinet's rejection would affect OCM's bid to host the games, the minister said according to the natural process, the bidding should be endorsed by the government.

"As far as I know, the bidding for the Asian Games should be supported by the government. That means Malaysia is automatically out of the race to host the games," she added.

A five-member evaluation committee of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) led by its vice-president, Celso Dayrit had been convinced of Kuala Lumpur's capability to host the games after a two-day visit, during which it inspected several sports facilities and infrastructures around the city centre.

During a news conference yesterday, Dayrit said Malaysia needed just a letter of endorsement from the government and an impressive presentation to convince the 45 members of the National Olympic Councils (NOC) of Asia to select Kuala Lumpur as the host.

Dayrit and his team also stressed that Kuala Lumpur's Asian Games Bid Committee must produce the letter of endorsement from the government before the OCA general assembly in Doha, Qatar, on July 1 this year.

"Without the letter, Malaysia will lose to Guangzhou, which is fully backed by the Chinese government," he said.

The team is now in Guangzhou, China, to inspect the city. With the cabinet's rejection, Guangzhou will automatically host the 2010 Asian Games.

This is the second time that Kuala Lumpur's hopes to host the Asian Games have been dashed. In 2000, Kuala Lumpur lost to Doha, Qatar, in the final bidding for the 2006 Asian Games.