KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 206 national athletes and officials who are scheduled to ‘camp’ in Songkhla in conjunction with the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand next month, will be relocated to Bangkok due to the flood situation in the southern region of Thailand.
The National Sports Council (NSC) in a statement yesterday announced that it is ready to assist the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) in coordinating the relocation.
“MSN has held an internal coordination meeting for this purpose and has already contacted OCM secretary-general Datuk Mohd Nasir Ali, chef de mission (CDM) of the Malaysian Contingent, Nurul Huda Abdullah and CDM deputies, in addition to informing each team manager and all National Sports Associations (PSK) involved.
“The action to transfer the athletes followed the decision of the 33rd SEA Games and 13th Asean Para Games Organising Committee meeting in Thailand chaired by Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports Atthakorn Sirilatthayakon, yesterday which confirmed that all 10 sports scheduled to take place in Songkhla have been transferred to Bangkok,” the statement said.
According to MSN, the committee stressed that the transfer measures were taken to ensure that the event could continue to be held under controlled conditions as well as to address concerns about the health and safety of athletes who may be affected due to the flooding issue.
The national athletes in Songkhla were previously scheduled to participate in muaythai, pencak silat, men’s football, chess, judo, kabaddi, karate, petanque, wushu and wrestling.
“OCM will announce the confirmation of the venues for all these sports as soon as it receives confirmation from the organisers,” added MSN.
In the meantime, MSN has contacted the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok to seek assistance for the relocation.
As a precautionary measure, MSN and OCM have also prepared a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to deal with any additional issues that may arise involving the country’s contingent following the current situation.
The 2025 SEA Games in Thailand are scheduled to take place from Dec 9 to 20. – BERNAMA
