The General Secretary of the Vietnam Olympic Committee told Tuoi Tre that it is not true that the Southeast Asian Games will be held every four years as some local newspapers reported recently.

The General Secretary of the Vietnam Olympic Committee Hoang Vinh Giang on December 26 told Tuoi Tre that it is not true that the Southeast Asian Games will be held every four years as some local newspapers reported recently.

Giang said that the above idea came from the Olympic Commission of Asia (OCA) and the Southeast Asian Sports Federation. The OCA said that SEA Games should be organized every four years as Olympic of the Asian Games. If SEA Games is organized every four years, Southeast Asia will organize a young SEA Games for young athletes in the middle of the two SEA Games, similar to the World Youth Olympic.

Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, disagreed with the idea because if the SEA Games are organized every four years, elite sportsmen will not have many opportunities to compete with their regional peers. In addition, it is unfeasible to hold the Young SEA Games because member countries don’t want to host the event because it is difficult to seek funding.

In April 2010, participants will discuss this and other amendments of the regional sport rules at a meeting of the Southeast Asian Sports Federation in Indonesia. Giang stated that it will be very difficult for the federation to approve the cycle change.

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre