Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo expressed his disappointment amid reports that 2021 Southeast Asian Games organizer Vietnam is not keen on hosting the ASEAN Para Games.
In a report over Radyo Pilipinas Dos, Barredo said it will be a big blow to the ASEAN para-sport community if the Para Games will be canceled for the second straight time.
Normally held within a month following the SEA Games, the ASEAN Para Games was scrapped by the Philippines, host of the 2019 SEA Games, as the COVID-19 virus was beginning to hit the country in the early part of 2020.
Barredo, vice president of the Asian Paralympic Committee, bared though that Malaysia and Indonesia are reportedly interested in hosting the Para Games if Vietnam will not push through with the hosting of the competition for the differently-abled athletes.
The Filipino official is confident that sports officials will slowly learn how to manage COVID-19 and that 2022 will again be a busy year for Paralympic athletes as they brace for the Asian Paralympic Games in October in Hangzhou, China.
The 2023 SEA Games is set in February with Cambodia as host and the Paralympic community expects the ASEAN Para Games to be back in the normal calendar.
In a recent official announcement by the Vietnam SEA Games Organizing Committee (VIESGOC), it confirmed that the 2021 SEA Games will be held in May next year after it was reset from its original schedule in March this year.
“The VIESGOC has adjusted the games’ master plan, schedules, timelines …and reported to the Vietnamese government for approval,” said VIESGOC Deputy Chairman Tran Duc Phan in a letter sent to SEA Games Federation COO Dato Seri Chaiyapak Seriwak of Thailand.
“Once again, we would like to officially confirm [that the] 31st SEA Games will be held in mid-May 2022,” added Phan.
POC president Rep. Bambol Tolentino said VIESGOC’s confirmation officially triggers all pre-SEA Games preparations by Team Philippines.
“Now, we can safely and officially say that our journey to the Vietnam SEA Games is on,” Tolentino said. “This is the bell for all national sports associations involved and the Philippine Sports Commission to buckle down to work.”
The POC earlier pegged a delegation of 626 athletes, who will compete in 29 of the 30 sports in the Vietnam Games’ program.