Vietnam proposes to postpone SEA Games 31

By Nhat Tao   June 9, 2021 | 03:46 pm PT
Vietnam proposes to postpone SEA Games 31
The official logo of SEA Games 31.
Due to the complicated development of Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, SEA Games 31 is most likely to be postponed.

In an online meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the Vietnam Olympic Committee proposed to organize SEA Games 31 in July 2022 instead of this year. Representatives of the Olympic Committees in other Southeast Asian countries have confirmed the information and will report it to their governments. This matter also needs to be reviewed by the Standing Committee of the Southeast Asian Games Federation before an official decision is made.

It is expected that two weeks later, the committees will continue the discussion to agree on a plan to organize SEA Games 31.

Since the latest Covid-19 wave in Vietnam started on April 27, the country has recorded over 6,400 local cases. The pandemic is also getting complicated in other Southeast Asian countries and has affected the training process of athletes. The commercial marketing campaigns for the event have also failed to achieve the desired results.

Ensuring medical care for about 20,000 athletes, coaches, officials, referees, and logistics staff of the delegations, not to mention the fans, is also a big challenge for the organizers of SEA Games 31.

If the proposal is approved, this will be the first time in history that a SEA Games event is postponed.

SEA Games 31 was originally scheduled to take place from November 21 to December 2 this year in 12 provinces and cities of Vietnam. The event has 40 sports, most of which are Olympic sports.

At SEA Games 30 in 2019, Vietnam ranked second overall with 98 gold medals, after the host Philippines.

 
 
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