Far Eastern Championship Games

The Far Eastern Championship Games (also known as Far East Games) was a small Asian multi-sport competition considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games.

In 1912, E.S. Brown, president of the Philippine Athletic Association and Manila Carnival Games, proposed the creation of the "Far Eastern Olympic Games" to China and Japan. It was at that time that Governor-General William Cameron Forbes was the president of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Association from 1911-1913. Governor-General Forbes formed the Far Eastern Olympic Association. The first Far Eastern Championship Games was held in the Carnival Grounds (now Rizal Memorial Sports Complex) in Malate, Manila, Philippine Islands on February 4, 1913. Forbes was also the one who formally declare the games open.Six countries participated in the eight day event: The Philippine Islands, Republic of China, Empire of Japan, British East Indies (Malaysia), Kingdom of Thailand and British crown colony Hong Kong. In 1915, the name changed to Far Eastern Championship Games and the association to Far Eastern Athletic Association when the event was held in Shanghai, China. The games were held every two years except in 1929 when Japan decided to delay the project to 1930. The FEAA decided to change the time table to four years and the Philippine Islands hosted 10th edition of the games in 1934. Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) joined in the 1934 FECG. In September 1937, Japan invaded China with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and started the Second Sino-Japanese War (which later became part of World War II), thus the originally planned game in 1938 was cancelled.

Host cities

* 1st Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Philippines|1908 Manila, Philippines - February 1913
* 2nd Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Republic of China|1912 Shanghai, China - May 1915
* 3rd Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Japan Tokyo, Japan - May 1917
* 4th Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Philippines|1919 Manila, Philippines - May 1919
* 5th Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Republic of China|1912 Shanghai, China - June 1921
* 6th Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Japan Osaka, Japan - May 1923
* 7th Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Philippines|1919 Manila, Philippines - May 1925
* 8th Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Republic of China|1912 Shanghai, China - August 1927
* 9th Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Japan Tokyo, Japan - May 1930
* 10th Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Philippines|1919 Manila, Philippines - May 1934
* 11th Far Eastern Championship Games - flagicon|Japan Osaka, Japan - 1938 ("Cancelled")

External links

* [http://www.la84foundation.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1926/BODE3/BODE3i.pdf The Far Eastern Championship Games]
* [http://www.calpoly.edu/~admorris/TiyuPhotosFECG.html Far Eastern Championship Games in pictures]
* [http://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_abe_0600.htm Japan, China and the Far Eastern Championship Games]
* [http://www.vintagepostcards.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=VPC&Product_Code=SPORMI-F9890&Category_Code=SPORMI 6th Far Eastern Championship Games]
* [http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php/Far_Eastern_Championship_Games Summary of basketball results]
* [http://fpok.upi.edu/the_origin_asiangames.htm A brief history of the Games]