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SEA GAMES: Let the hosts decide the number of sports - Sieh

OLYMPIC Council of Malaysia (OCM) honorary secretary, Datuk Sieh Kok Chi said yesterday Sea Games hosts should be given a free hand to decide any number of sports they want to include in the biennial event.

Datuk Sieh Kok Chi
Datuk Sieh Kok Chi

As all governments of Asean countries give their full support to the games and allocate millions of ringgit to organise them, Kok Chi said the hosts should not be barred from offering any number of sports.

"It's the hosts' money to organise the biennial event. Let them decide any number of sports they want to offer.
"The more the merrier. Maybe their own people would like their government to offer more sports compared to the other hosts and it will make the people happy," he said yesterday.

Kok Chi was asked to comment on Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia's remark that the country's athletes in the 27th SeA Games in Myanmar in 2013 will only compete in the sports that are also offered in the Asian and Olympic Games.

During the Asean Sports Ministers Meeting in Indonesia last week, Garcia said most Sea Games-participating countries have agreed to limit the events to sports also offered in the Asian and Olympic games.
Sieh's remarks are contrary to his previous stand. A few years back, he was quite vocal in urging the SGF to limit the number of sports offered in the Sea Games by concentrating on sports offered in the Asian and Olympic Games.

He said that his new stand is in line with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) policy to develop and spur regional sporting events.
"For the Sea Games, if the participating countries do not take part in any sports, they're free to do so.
"They can concentrate on the Asian or Olympic sports offered in the Sea Games," he said.

Citing the Indonesian Sea Games, which offer 43 sports, Sieh said most of the sports there were also offered during the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in 2010.

"The only Indonesian Sea Games sports that were not contested in Guangzhou were vovinam (Vietnamese martial art), kempo and waterskiing.

"The rest of the sports were offered in Indonesia and Guangzhou.
"So why must we limit the number of sports in the Sea Games when the same sports were contested in the Asian Games?" he asked. - Bernama

Read more: NST

Comments

  1. Anonymous27 December 2011 at 1:35 pm

    That is the trouble with Dato Sieh Kok Chi he tends to forget and change his stand whenever it suits him. The SEA Games is nothing but a big ego exercise for the host country. Yes they will introduce their traditional games and the whole object is to win the most number of medals. Does it attract the aundience today? Hardly anyone bothers about the SEA Games . Dato Sieh, I do not know whether it is dementia or alzimers or Parkinson, at 73 , it is time you call it a day.

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