THE Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) will soon discuss with the government the concept for hosting the SEA Games in 2027, said OCM president Mohamad Norza Zakaria. 

He said the biennial games could be staged just in and around the federal capital as was done previously, or be shared with other states as co-hosts.

He said details on how to organise the games can only be decided after a meeting with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu.

“Our country has the complete facilities (to host the SEA Games), but whether we want to bring it outside (of Kuala Lumpur) and assist those states to develop infrastructure, that’s a between federal and state (governments’ decision).

“Some states may say that they also have existing facilities that can be refurbished and bring it to SEA Games level,” he told reporters after chairing the OCM executive board meeting at Wisma OCM in Kuala Lumpur today.

Norza said OCM also needs to work out preparations for the Malaysian contingent to ensure the country can perform well in the regional games. 

Malaysia has hosted the SEA Games six times, including when it was known as the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games – in 1965, 1971, 1977, 1989, 2001 and 2017 – all held in Kuala Lumpur. 

Meanwhile, Norza said there are no doping cases involving Malaysian athletes at the SEA Games in Vietnam from May 12 to 23. 

On the next SEA Games in Cambodia from May 5 to 16 next year, he said the list of events to be contested will be decided at the SEA Games Federation meeting on July 2 and 3 in Phnom Penh. 

“Chef de mission (CDM) Nur Azmi Ahmad will hold a post-mortem with all team managers to prepare the CDM report soon. Based on the feedback from national sports associations, we can actually push for and defend sports that we want to be included,” he said. – Bernama, June 7, 2022.