SEA Games 2021 postponed.
The Southeast Asian Games Council has unanimously agreed to postpone the 31st SEA Games, scheduled to be held later this year, due to the complex Covid-19 situation in the region.
The decision was adopted during an online meeting of the Southeast Asian Sports Council with the National Olympic Committees of the member countries.
Previously, in an online meeting on June 9th, the Vietnam Olympic Committee proposed postponing the 31st SEA Games and rescheduling the event to July 2022.
 |
| The 31st SEA Games may be postponed to 2022. |
The resurgence of Covid-19 in Vietnam, with thousands of community infections since April 27th, coupled with the ongoing complexities of the pandemic in many Southeast Asian countries, has impacted athletes' training and hampered marketing and promotional efforts.
Ensuring medical care for approximately 20,000 athletes, coaches, officials, referees, and support staff from various sports delegations, not to mention fans, is also a major challenge. In this situation, organizing the 2021 SEA Games as scheduled this year has become impossible.
This is the second time since the SEA Games were established in 1959 that the Games have not taken place in an odd-numbered year. In 1963, the Games were also canceled due to the political situation in Cambodia. The 2023 SEA Games will be held in Cambodia in May.
The 31st SEA Games were originally scheduled to take place from November 21, 2021 to December 2, 2021 in 12 provinces and cities including Hanoi, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Ha Nam, Hai Duong, Hoa Binh, Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh and Quang Ninh. The Games included 40 sports, mostly Olympic sports.
At the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines in 2019, Vietnam finished second overall with 98 gold medals, behind host nation the Philippines. This was the first time Vietnam, not as the host country, ranked above Thailand in the overall medal standings.
