Vietnam to host SEA Games after 19 years

Vietnam will host the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in May 2022, the second time after the first held in Hanoi in 2003.

International press conference held on Feb 28 to announce the hosting of the 31st SEA Games. Photos: MIC

The biannual event will be underway from May 12 to May 23 in Hanoi and 11 surrounding places, according to an international press conference on Monday [February 28].

This SEA Games program will include 40 sports with 526 medal events, attracting around 10,000 participants from 11 regional delegations.

So far, 7,000 members of international sports delegations have registered to attend the event that will accredit reporters in March.

According to Pham Anh Tuan, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications (MIC), Vietnam Television (VTV) will broadcast live 15 to 17 sports while delegations that want their sports broadcast live could request VTV to do so.

The organizers will give information regarding accommodation, traffic, health, among others at the second international press conference scheduled to be held on March 18, 2022. One day later, the delegation leaders will make field trips to a number of competition venues in Hanoi, Bac Ninh, and Quang Ninh.

Vietnam's officials and ASEAN member states' ambassadors.

No quarantine

The organizers will not quarantine visitors who attend the SEA Games.

The organizers will monitor the precautionary regulations in accordance with a “bubble” in which the athletes’ mobility would be limited to airports, hotels, and competition venues.  

As per regulations by the organizers, the delegations need to report their situation to the hosting country three weeks before the event begins. Each delegation is required to have an official in charge of medical work to contact the organizers in related issues and anti-pandemic.

During the event, any athletes who are infected with Covid-19 will be quarantined at hotels or medical stations when the sports persist.

There are three different plans for the attendance of the audience, including no audience, 30-50%, and full capacity. The organizers manage the audience at the venues by software.

As scheduled, the 31st SEA Games will take place in Vietnam in November 2021 but Covid-19 caused the delay.

The mascot of the 31 SEA Games.

 Some changes expected

 At the biggest regional sports event, the host country vows to add enough sports of other countries’ strengths and remove no Olympic event from the competition program to be fair for all delegations.

“We do not choose our forte and ignore other countries’ strong ability. That is the pioneering direction of the host country to create opportunities for the region’s sports to develop,” said Tran Duc Phan, Deputy Head of the Sports Administration under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

He said Vietnam’s way is following Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam’s request that Vietnam must organize an exemplary SEA Games that highlights the sense of fair play instead of winning at all costs.

To host the event, Vietnam’s National Assembly last month approved an amount of VND750 billion (US$33 million) for the organization.

SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, the Philippines, Timor Leste, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supervision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).