SPORTS officials in Malaysia should expect a big backlash from member countries over its decision to remove many events in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.
Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Ricardo “Richie” Garcia said this as he took note of the decision of organizers of the 29th SEA Games to ratify an initial list of 34 sports and 342 events, with ice hockey and ice skating added for the first time.
Futsal, a form of five-a-side football, is also in the calendar, while eight traditional events were among those scrapped in athletics, along with Olympic staples fencing, judo and canoeing.
“They (organizers) have been removing events, adding some, and removing others again. From the beginning, this will make the staging of the games difficult,” said Garcia.
The move has sparked talks within the region that certain countries will boycott events such the triple jump, high jump and the discus throw in athletics
There is also talk that Asia’s governing athletics’ body, the Asian Athletics Association, will not sanction the holding of the athletics’ events in the games.
The sanctions loom if events excluded from the overall line-up in athletics are not reinstated.
Other sports disciplines had a reduced number of events and these include wushu, boxing, weightlifting, tennis, volleyball, cycling and rugby, while some Olympic sports were scrapped altogether like rowing, fencing, triathlon, canoeing, dragon boat and wrestling.
SEA Games Federation Council Member Julian Camacho and Philippine Olympic Committee Chairman Tom Carrasco have been meeting with the heads of various national sports associations to discuss the appeal, which they need to submit to the federation by the end of March.