THE next three editions of SEA Games will be less likely to have “strange” and traditional sports, with priority given to Olympic and Asian Games sports.

This is following the amendment to the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) Charter that was agreed upon by the member countries on the eve of the recently concluded Cambodia Games in Phnom Penh.

Malaysian Olympic Council president Mohamad Norza Zakaria said the 11 participating countries in the biennial Games agreed to cut the number of optional sports for the 2025 Thailand, 2027 Malaysia and 2029 Singapore editions.

“The charter was changed on May 4. Hopefully, after this, the things that happened in previous editions will not recur. The category of sports for the hosts to choose from has been reduced. We will focus on Olympic and Asian Games sports,” he told a press conference yesterday.

In the SEA Games, apart from the mandatory category 1 sports – athletics and aquatic (swimming, diving) – the host country can choose to introduce non-Olympic or traditional sport if at least four nations agree to participate in them.

This prompted host countries, including Malaysia, to add sports and events they are strong in and drop events they are not good at to achieve a favourable position in the medal tally, often with an eye on the overall title.

Some of the less popular sports contested in the SEA Games recently were arnis, ouk chaktrang (chess), kenpo, kun bokator, kun khmer, kurash, underwater hockey, finswimming and vovinam.

Despite the positive change, Norza warned Malaysia might still be lagging in the SEA Games if all stakeholders, especially the National Sports Council and national sports associations, do not buck up.

“We have athletics and aquatics in category 1, we can’t run away from that. So, I feel the time has come for us to jointly look into this matter and bring sports to a higher standard,” he said.

He requested that the Youth and Sports Ministry improvise the reward system for athletes, claiming neighbouring countries like Indonesia have far better ones.

Norza said while athletes and associations with commendable performances should be rewarded, the ministry should take punitive action against those who fail to meet expectations by cutting their funding.

At the recent SEA Games in Cambodia, Malaysia finished seventh with 34 golds, 45 silvers and 97 bronzes for their worst-ever performance in the history of the biennial Games since 1959. – Bernama, May 20, 2023.