Outrage Erupts As Malaysian Olympic Council Drops 8 Athletic Events At The Next SEA Games
Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin isn't pleased with the decision.
By John Lim — 22 Feb 2016, 05:34 PM
The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) who is the organiser for next year's South East Asia (SEA) Games, have dropped a total of 8 athletics events, as announced over the weekend
The men’s and women’s marathons, 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase events are absent from the provisional list of 38 track and field events proposed by the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM). The men’s decathlon, and women’s heptathlon events have also been left out.
themalaysianinsider.com
According to Low Beng Choo, OCM’s secretary general, the decision was based on the lack of participants for these events
“The marathon events have been left out of the initial short list,” Low Beng Choo, OCM’s secretary general, said in a phone interview. “We did some analysis, and found that we wouldn’t have enough participants for these eight athletics events. So, do we organise an event for the sake of it, or do we make the events we hold meaningful and competitive?”
themalaysianinsider.com
However, she assured that the decision has not been finalised yet. Appeals can be made from now until July.
“This list of sports events released is only Malaysia’s first proposal. After this, we are going to listen to appeals, and the final list will be decided in July. From now till July, there is so much time for us to listen to views of various South-east Asian nations." said Low.
The final list of the sports and events will be confirmed during the SEA Games Federation meeting in Kuala Lumpur by July 13 or 14.
In addition to that, OCM president Tan Sri Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafar confirmed that five sports including canoeing have also been dropped from the list
OCM president Tan Sri Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafar, who chaired the meeting, said that their main objective in hosting the SEA Games “is to become overall champions”.
“We have dropped bodybuilding, canoeing, fencing, judo and triathlon because these sports do not have the competitiveness required to give a strong challenge at the Games,” he said.
Needless to say, the decision to drop athletic events didn't sit well with many, including Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin
"As SEA Games 2017 Organising Committee chairman, I need to make a decision, I feel the list is incomplete and maybe the judgement call was not so good. This is the first list by the OCM Technical Committee. It is not the final list. There are certain sports that I personally feel should be included. I feel several important sports were not listed in the preliminary list," said Khairy.
bernama.com.my
Officials from the Sports Ministry also lamented that the excuse of not having enough participants is not valid
Sources told Malay Mail even the Sports Ministry is not pleased with the list that was released by Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) on Wednesday. A sports official, who declined to be named, said: “I am against these events being excluded. The excuse of little or non-participation does not hold water."
themalaymailonline.com
The decision also sparked an online petition, which has over 1,150 signatures at the time of writing
The 29th SEA Games, scheduled from 19 to 31 August next year, will be held in Kuala Lumpur, with a total of 11 ASEAN countries participating
The participating countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philipines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.