Chaipak, who chaired yesterday's meeting, added that the Vietnam's representative sought another 10 days to confirm his country's ability to host the Games on the scheduled dates. However, a vote was called and all ten nations, with the exception of the host country, voted in favour of postponing the event to next year.
Last month, Vietnam had proposed to the federation to delay the Games as the country grappled with a new virus outbreak. The regional edition of Olympics were due to be held in Hanoi and 11 other locations -- some of them being the epicentre of the fresh Covid-19 wave.
Some of the SEA Games events were due to take place in badly affected provinces including Bac Ninh and Bac Giang in the country's northeast. The badminton venue in Bac Giang has been turned into a field hospital, reports said. Vietnam previously hosted the multisport competition in 2003. It has allocated a budget of around $69 million for the Games.
The SEA Games are expected to attract nearly 20,000 participants, including about 7,000 athletes, from 11 countries, according to state media. As well as Olympic disciplines, sports are likely to include billiards and snooker, bodybuilding, chess, bowling and kurash, an ancient form of Uzbek wrestling.
Source: Bangkok Post.
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