Host Thailand is expected to make an announcement regarding the postponement of the 6th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) to 2023 while Vietnam is set to announce the new schedule of the 31st Southeast Asian Games in May 2022.
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Bambol Tolentino disclosed this Saturday, adding that both governments of Thailand and Vietnam will release official announcements by next week.
AIMAG, a quadrennial event, was originally set March 10 to 20, 2022 in Bangkok and Chonburi, but organizers and the Thai government decided to delay it for a year due to health and safety reasons brought by the pandemic.
Host Vietnam, meanwhile, has yet to specify the actual dates for the 31st SEAG, a biennial meet, which was originally scheduled late this year.
“I believe it will be in the latter part of May 2022,” Tolentino said.
A few weeks ago, the SEAG Federation has given host Vietnam until October to decide whether or not it will push through with the SEAG staging, even proposing to a May 2022 schedule to due to the packed schedule of international events next year, as well as the schedule of the 32nd SEAG edition that host Cambodia set in February 2023.
As a result, Tolentino said the additional budget amounting to P650 million that the House and Senate agreed to add to the Philippine Sports Commission’s coffers in 2022 would have to be reduced.