On the afternoon of June 9, the Coordination Office of the Southeast Asian Sports Federation and the Olympic Committees of the countries held a meeting to discuss the organization of the 31st SEA Games, scheduled to take place in Hanoi and other neighboring localities between November 21 and December 2, 2021.
The Vietnam Olympic Committee has sent a letter to postpone the SEA Games to 10 other Southeast Asian countries.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the meeting took place in an online form, which the Vietnam Olympic Committee chaired. Due to the complicated development of the Covid-19 pandemic in most Southeast Asian countries, the host Vietnam proposed to delay the organization of the 31st SEA Games in July 2022.
According to the Vietnamese host, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the organization of the 31st SEA Games is facing many difficulties. According to regulations as issued by the Ministry of Health, at this time, people entering Vietnam must be isolated. In this case, athletes will face many challenges in terms of maintaining performance. In addition, Hanoi and many other localities are having problems with facilities, etc. Even the gymnasium in Bac Ninh province, the venue for the 31 SEA Games competitions, had to be requisitioned to make a field hospital.
At the proposal by the Vietnam Olympic Committee, representatives of the Olympic Committees of the regional countries receive information and will report back to the higher management agencies in their countries.
Due to the current pandemic situation, it is difficult for Vietnam to host the 31st SEA Games.
It is expected that, after this meeting, on June 24, the Executive Board of the Southeast Asian Sports Federation and the host country, Vietnam and other countries in the region will meet to discuss together to reach a final agreement about the organization plan of the 31st SEA Games.
Previously, the Deputy Chairman of the Government Office, Mr. Nguyen Sy Hiep signed a document conveying the direction by Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Vu Duc Dam, Head of the National Steering Committee to organize the 31st SEA Games and the 11th Asean Para Games, requesting that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the People’s Committee of Hanoi City assessed and reported on the preparation for the organization of the two events mentioned above.
The document states: “The National Assembly’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Adolescents and Children issued Document No. 3338/UBVHGDTTN14 dated May 17. 2021 to submit to the Prime Minister a proposal after supervising the preparation for the organization of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (31st SEA Games) and the 11th Southeast Asian Para Games (11th ASEAN Para Games) in 2021 in Vietnam; The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Document No. 1449/BVHTTDL-KHTC dated May 6, 2021, to the National Steering Committee (abbreviated as Steering Committee) to organize the 31st SEA Games and the 11th ASEAN Para Games in 2021 in Vietnam to summarize the implementation of projects managed by the Ministry for the organization of 31st SEA Games and 11th ASEAN Para Games.
The 31st SEA Games in Vietnam is scheduled to take place from November 21 to December 2 in Hanoi and 11 neighboring localities. With the current Covid-19 situation in the country, out of 12 31st SEA Games venues, there are three locations in Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Hanoi, where the pandemic is complicated. Along with that, other localities such as Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Phu Tho, Quang Ninh, Hoa Binh, Hai Duong, Vinh Phuc, Ninh Binh and Hai Phong all have a high potential for infection.
As planned, the 31st SEA Games will have a competitive program including 40 sports with 520 contents. This sports festival will attract about 10,000 members, along with officials, supervisors and referees of sports delegations in the region.
Based on the current pandemic situation, leaders of the sports industry have commented if the Covid-19 pandemic still has many complicated developments and has not been completely controlled, it will be difficult for Vietnam to organize the 31st SEA Games, so the Vietnam Olympic Committee sent a letter of postponement to 10 other Southeast Asian countries.
X.L