31st SEA Games postponed due to rise of COVID-19 cases

Last July 8, the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Federation decided to call off the 2021 biennial sports meet supposed to take place in Hanoi, Vietnam.

In an online press conference, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham Tolentino confirmed that, as a result of the unanimous decision by the working committee, the SEA Games will be moved to a later date in 2022.

This decision was due to the increasing number of coronavirus disease cases each year.

“Medyo tumaas po talaga—nag-spike sa Thailand, Indonesia, even the Philippines, and Vietnam,” Tolentino said. 

Currently, the POC president stated that the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Vietnam and their government will be discussing the rescheduled date. 

“They want to hold the SEA Games for 2022 so they are choosing either March, April, or May.” He added, “We gave them 10 days to decide so we’re kind of pressuring them to decide.”

As of date, POC states that the athletes should continuously train and prepare. The Philippines has a total of 626 Filipino athletes set to defend the overall championship title the country won during its hosting in the SEA games 2019.

LAYOUT BY: Casey R. Aguilos

PHOTO SOURCE(S): Rappler and Smart Launch