Philippines to host 2033 SEA Games after getting approval from the federation.
The Southeast Asian Games Federation announced its unanimous approval for the Philippines bid to host the 37th edition of the Games in 2033. The Olympic Council of Malaysia said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino confirmed yesterday.
The Federation also awarded the hosting of the 36th SEA Games in 2031 to the NOC (National Olympic Committee) of Laos.
“After presenting the hosting bid to the council, and following its approval, the POC and the SEA Games Council will ask the Philippine government to issue a letter of support,” he said.
“If the government declines, the hosting chores will be offered to another country.”
Tolentino said that the 2033 hosting will be formally presented to Malacanang for the Philippine government’s acceptance of the responsibility.
The approval of the future hosting was done at the council meeting in which Tolentino and deputy secretaries-general Bones Floro and Carl Sambrano attended at the Sokha Phnom Penh Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Wednesday, July 13.
The country had hosted the SEA Games four times prior in 1981, 1991, 2005, and in 2019, its most successful hosting in 2019, still under Tolentino, the Philippine athletes emerged on top that year with 149 gold medals, 117 silvers, and 121 bronze medals.
In 2019, the Philippines did not hold back in the preparation and facilities as hosting the biennial meet cost the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizational Committee (Phisgoc) P6-billion for the budget’s entirety.
The 31st SEA Games were held in Hanoi, Vietnam last May 12 to 23 while Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore are expected to host the Games in 2023, 2025, 2027, and 2029 respectively.
At this point, only Timor-Leste remains as the only Southeast Asian country to not host in the Games’ history.
Tags: #SEAGames, #Olympics, #Southeast Asia, #Philippines'bidokayed