THINK BEFORE ‘PUSHING’

OCM secretary general Nazifuddin says it’s still early days for final confirmation

Before national sport associations cry foul over the “exclusion” of several events from the 2021 Sea Games, they need to consider the situation first. This is the view of Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary general Datuk Nazifuddin Najib when asked to comment on the initial list of 36 sports for the 2021 Games in Vietnam.

Nazifuddin believes it is still early days with regard to the 2021 Sea Games and the selection of sports that it will feature.

“From the board’s perspective, it is quite premature to comment at the moment as we are focusing on the Manila Sea Games (this year),” said Nazifuddin.

“Matters pertaining to the Vietnam Sea Games have yet to be discussed at Sea Games Federation (SEAGF) level.

“We will discuss with Vietnam’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) and our own National Sports Associations (NSAs) to understand their requirements.

“We have to be aware of the facilities and limitations of the host country. Although we may be strong in certain sports we cannot push for events where the hosts do not have the required facilities.

“Take track cycling for example, a lot of Southeast Asian countries do not have velodromes to organise such events.”

The sports which have been included for 2021 are: athletics, aquatics, football, futsal, gymnastics, rowing, shooting, archery, weightlifting, judo, karate, wushu, wrestling, boxing, fencing, badminton, sepak takraw, tennis, volleyball, basketball, handball, cycling, table tennis, billiards and snooker, golf, petanque, shuttlecock, vovinam, fin-swimming, dance, chess, pencak silat, muay, bodybuilding, eSports and kick boxing. Four more are expected to be revealed later.

This initial list, however, does not include field hockey, tenpin bowling, lawn bowls as well as squash who have over the years been key contributors for Malaysia in the biennial competition. It is also not known if track cycling events will be included.