President of Uzbekistan
In April 1994, President of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch visited Tashkent, Uzbekistan. During the meeting, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov asked him about the possibility of hosting the Olympic Games in Tashkent, to which the IOC President replied that for this, at the request of the Olympic Charter, serious competitions, at least regional ones, should be held. After this, a meeting of the heads of the National Olympic Committees of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan was held in Tashkent, at which a decision was made to organize the Central Asian Games.