VIETNAM organizers agreed to the proposed Hanoi 31st Southeast Asian Games opening in mid-May next year.
Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino made the confirmation following Monday’s online SEA Games Federation meeting among the games’ 11 member countries.
The Vietnamese organizers, according to Tolentino, were amenable to any date for the opening ceremony in mid-May. Cambodia is also expected to host the SEAG a year later.
“Cambodia will host the 32nd edition in 2023 and they want to have at least a year’s window for them to prepare,” Tolentino said.
Cambodia will host its first SEA Games and has set its opening ceremony on May 5, 2023.
The Hanoi SEA Games were originally scheduled Nov. 21 to Dec. 2 this year but Vietnam’s government postponed the event because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Vietnamese organizers will confirm the specific dates soon,” Tolentino said.
The Philippines will compete in 39 sports in the Hanoi SEA Games.
There will be 40 sports consisting of 520 events in Hanoi. There were 54 sports with 530 events in the 30th SEA Games which the country hosted and dominated in 2019.
The proposed Hanoi SEA Games opening ceremony comes days after the Philippine general elections and Tolentino said the Philippine delegation will fly to Vietnam in batches depending upon the events schedules.
The POC submitted a 626-athlete entry by numbers for the Hanoi Games. The Philippines will compete in 39 sports.
Among the SEA Games Federation members who attended the online meeting were Major General Charouck Arirachakaran, Dr. Varin Tansuphasiri, Professor Charoen Wattanasin, Dato Seri Chaiyapak Siriwat and Thana Chaiprasit of Thailand, Dato Norza Zakaria and Dato Nazifudin of Malaysia, Ferry Kono of Indonesia, Chris Chan of Singapore and Tran Van Manh of Vietnam.
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