THE rescheduled 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, will take place in mid-May next year.
The news was announced by Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham N. Tolentino on Monday after attending an online SEA Games Federation meeting among member countries.
Mr. Tolentino said the Vietnam organizers agreed to a mid-May opening for the SEA Games, adding that for his part he suggested for the sporting meet to start on May 12.
The Hanoi SEA Games were originally scheduled from Nov. 21 to Dec. 2 this year, but because of the uncertainty still being presented by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Vietnam made the tough choice to postpone it to a later date.
“The Vietnamese organizers will confirm the specific dates soon,” said Mr. Tolentino, also a member of the House of Representatives from the eighth district of Cavite province.
As per initially agreed upon, there will be 40 sports, consisting of 520 events, to be played in Hanoi. It is less than the 54 in the 30th SEA Games which the Philippines hosted and topped in 2019.
The POC submitted a 626-athlete entry by numbers for the Hanoi Games. They will compete in 39 sports.
Mr. Tolentino said the Philippine delegation will fly to Vietnam in batches depending on the events schedules.
Among the SEA Games Federation members present at 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. — MASM