2017 Southeast Asian Games

29th Southeast Asian Games
Host city Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Motto Rising Together
Nations participating 11
Events 342 in 34 sports (provisional)
Opening ceremony 19 August 2017
Closing ceremony 31 August 2017
Main venue Bukit Jalil National Stadium
Website Official Website
<  2015 2019  >

The 2017 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 29th Southeast Asian Games (Malay: Sukan Asia Tenggara ke-29) and commonly known as Kuala Lumpur 2017 is a regional multi-sport event that will take place at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 19 to 31 August 2017.[1] It will be the sixth time that Southeast Asian Games held in Malaysia, after 1965, 1971, 1977, 1989 and 2001 Games. By the time the country hosts the games in 2017, it will be 16 years after Malaysia last hosted the biennial event.[2] The Games closing ceremony will coincide with Malaysia’s 60th Independence Day.[1]

Organisation

Host selection

A map of Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur
Location of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

As per SEA Games traditions, hosting duties are rotated among the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) member countries. Each country is assigned a year to host but may choose to do so or not.[3]

In July 2012, the SEAGF meeting in Myanmar confirmed that Malaysia would host the regional biennial event in 2017, should there be no other country willing to bid for the host job.[2] Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary general Sieh Kok Chi, who attended the meeting, said that Myanmar would host the Games in 2013, followed by Singapore in 2015. Then it should be Brunei's turn but it wanted to host the 2019 Games instead of the 2017 edition. Malaysia is willing to be the host for the 2017 Games.

Venues

The Bukit Jalil National Stadium, the main venue for 2017 SEA Games.

The 2017 Southeast Asian Games will be organised across several states in Malaysia.[4][5] All the existing venues in Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex will be upgraded while a new velodrome will be built in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan to host track cycling events.[6] Initially, Sabah and Sarawak was considered a number of events contested.[4] However, the Chief Executive Officer of 2017 SEA Games, Zolkples Embong has decide not to involving the East Malaysian states citing "a higher cost" as a main reason for not involving.[7]

More than RM1.6 billion has been allocated by the host country to turn the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, and its surrounding areas into a Sports City.[8] The first phase of the work will get the Bukit Jalil National Stadium ready to host the 2017 Southeast Asia Games.[9]

Volunteers

The organisers estimated that about 20,000 volunteers are needed to successfully host the games. Volunteer recruitment began on 14 November 2015, the same date as the launch party of the games logo, theme and mascot.[10] In less than 48 hours, more than 20,000 have signed up as volunteers who will be shortlisted for a variety of duties, ranging from scorekeeping, crowd control, ticketing, promotions and many more.[11]

Marketing

Rimau, the Malayan tiger, the official mascot.

"Rising Together" is the theme of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. It was chosen to signify Southeast Asia as a community and a region that has come a long way in making its mark on the global stage and to urge its people that it is time to come together to write the next chapter in collective journey of peace, progress, and prosperity. It also signifies that with Kuala Lumpur 2017 Southeast Asian Games being the first SEA Games after the formation of the ASEAN Community, sports will play a big role in bringing all the citizens of Southeast Asia together in celebrating Malaysians achievements and commitment towards sportsmanship, as well as uplifting and inspiring the entire region.[12]

The logo is based on a Wau Bulan, a crescent-shaped kite traditionally popular in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.[12] The combination of stripes and colours were collated from the flags of all the Southeast Asian countries to create the Kuala Lumpur 2017 identity. It was selected after a nationwide logo competition which saw 174 entries submitted for consideration. The Wau is described as graceful, beautiful, powerful, rising high above and something that could uniquely represent the transcendent power of sports.[13]

The official mascot of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games is an anthropomorphic Malayan tiger named Rimau. It was unveiled on 14 November 2015, together with the games' logo and theme. The name is an abbreviation of the games' core values, namely: Respect, Integrity, Move, Attitude and Unity. He is described as a gracious, friendly, competitive and athletic athlete.[14]

Games

Sports

A total of 39 sports will be contested in this edition.[2] Five sports including two winter sports will be introduced to the Games – bridge, cricket, ice hockey, ice skating and Tarung Derajat. For the first time, two winter sports were accepted by the South East Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) Council into the SEA Games. Ice skating and ice hockey, together with cricket, were inducted into Category Two joining the other 35 sports which are featured in the Olympic Games and Asian Games. Tarung Derajat and Bridge join 16 other sports in Category Three.[6][15]

On 16 June 2015, Chief Executive Officer for the 2017 SEA Games, Zolkples Embong said the staging of Olympic sports hopes will be part of the legacy of the SEA Games in Malaysia. He said that while it has always been the norm for host nations to select sports they are geared towards in an attempt to increase their haul of gold medals, the practice is not in line with the goals, which is to groom athletes from the region to compete at the Asian and Olympic Games. He gives an example of 2011 Southeast Asian Games hosted by Indonesia which included many non-Olympic sports and the host played to their advantage by being the overall winners with 182 gold medals. However, Indonesia only won 45 gold medals in 2015 Southeast Asian Games. He added, in terms of the number and type of sports, Malaysia may not include non-Olympic sports like floorball and sailing’s optimist race in 2017.[16]

As of February 2016, the sports of Archery, BMX cycling, Wrestling, Triathlon, Judo, Muaythai, Canoeing, Bodybuilding and Fencing were removed from the preliminary shortlist of the sporting disciplines that will play in the 2017 SEA Games.[17] Also removed from the list are the women's events in boxing, billiards and snooker, sanda, and weightlifting and 8 events in Athletics. National Olympic Committees from the 11 participating countries will have until March 9 to appeal to reinclude the delisted sports in the shortlist.[18]

The following 34 sports with 342 events in all for the Games were included in the provisional list:[19]

Participating nations

All 11 members of Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) are expected to take part in the 2017 SEA Games. Below is a list of all the participating NOCs.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Meor Idris, Wan Noriza (14 November 2015). "2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games: New dates announced". Malay Mail Online. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Malaysia to host 2017 SEA Games". Bernama. The Star. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  3. ↑ S. Murillo, Michael Angelo (25 September 2015). "Ready for SEA Games 2019". Business World Weekender. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 Ruben Sario (7 September 2013). "Khairy proposes Sabah, Sarawak for SEA games". The Star. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "South East Asian NOCs in Singapore for the 28th SEA Games" (Press release). Singapore: Singapore National Olympic Council. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  6. 1 2 "KL to be main venue for 2017 SEA Games". Free Malaysia Today. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Sabah, Sarawak may not host 2017 SEA Games". The Malaysian Insider. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Shah, Mohd Farhan (3 June 2015). "RM1bil allocated to build Sports City". The Star Online. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "MRCB wins bid to regenerate Bukit Jalil sports complex". New Straits Times Online. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "20,000 volunteers needed for 2017 SEA Games". The Star Online. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "More than 20,000 have signed up as volunteers in less than 48 hours". Official Website. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Launching of the Logo, Mascot, Theme and Volunteer Programme of the Kuala Lumpur 29th SEA Games 2017". Official Website. 14 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Rising together, Rimau to drive KL Sea Games". New Straits Times Online. 14 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "About - Official Website". Official Website. 14 November 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Ian De Cotta (5 June 2015). "A cool addition to the SEA Games". Today Online. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  16. ↑ Ian De Cotta (16 June 2015). "SEA Games: 2017 hosts Malaysia look to emulate Singapore in more ways than one". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  17. ↑ "Philippines dealt blow as triathlon excluded from 2017 SEA Games calendar of events". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  18. ↑ "Women's events in boxing, billiards, three other sports not included in 2017 SEA Games initial list". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  19. ↑ Wong, Jonathan (17 February 2016). "SEA Games: Bodybuilding, canoeing, fencing, judo and triathlon in doubt for 2017 KL Games". New Straits Times. Retrieved 26 February 2016.

External links

Preceded by
2015
Singapore		 29th Southeast Asian Games
2017
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 		Succeeded by
2019
Manila, Philippines
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.