A man stands beside billboards featuring a picture of an athlete along the road nearby KL Sport City in Bukit Jalil ahead of KL 2017 Sea Games in Selangor Aug 7, 2017. — Picture by Miera Zulyana
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — It is confirmed that the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam will be held in May 2022.
However, the Vietnam Organising Committee will only fix the exact dates for the biennial Games at the end of this month after getting confirmation from the Vietnam government.
Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said the decision was made during the virtual SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) Office meeting, which was chaired by its chief executive officer Datuk Seri Chaiyapak Siriwat.
“We think we have reached a stage of certainty and a final decision on the implementation of the SEA Games.
“We wish to thank Vietnam for coming back with certainty in terms of the dates, that is May 2022,” he told a media conference after attending the virtual meeting at Wisma OCM here today.
In July, the SEAGF confirmed that the 31st SEA Games that was scheduled to be held on Nov 21-Dec 2 would be moved to next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Mohamad Norza hoped that the confirmation would be a relief to the athletes and officials involved, who had previously felt “trapped” in a dilemma regarding their preparations for the Games due to the uncertainty.
With such a short time left before the Games start, he urged the SEA Games Selection Committee to convene a meeting to discuss the issue of athlete participation.
“I am aware that 2022 will be a very busy year, with big sporting events like the Commonwealth Games scheduled for mid-2022 and the Asiad in November. So, I think we need to sit down,” he said, suggesting that the national sports associations get involved so as to be prepared as early as possible. — Bernama