The Philippine delegation will face a lot of challenges in the coming 2022 Southeast Asian Games, with host Vietnam dealing with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because Vietnam’s budget for the games has been cut, organizers have shifted their priority away from constructing new facilities and repairing venues.
While almost no new sporting venue has been constructed for the biennial meet, work and preparation for the games are now instead focused on the establishment of health and safety protocols that will be followed by many delegations, which will be in Vietnam for the regional competitions.
Hanoi is still the main hub, while 11 other surrounding provinces will also assist in hosting other events, requiring lots of travelling for athletes, coaches and officials.
And since no Athletes’ Village was built, delegates from participating countries will be housed in hotels near their competition venues.
“Maraming cities na babagsakan. Sa Hanoi ito, tapos, two to three provinces, so hiwa-hiwalay siya,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
Vietnamese officials said the pandemic has presented many challenges in organizing and finding venues for the games.
“The pandemic is still very complicated in many provinces and cities across the country,” said Tran Duc Phan, deputy director of the National Sports Administration in the online edition of Vietnam Plus.
Authorities said that other than a new cycling track in Hòa Bình Province and a small tennis complex at the Hanoi Sports Training and Competition Centre campus, there were no other facilities built for the games.
Phan said people who will be assisting in the games are now getting vaccinated.
At the moment, organizers are also tackling another challenge, which is pandemic control.
Work on this is now being done by the Health Subcommittee of the SEA Games 31’s Organising Board, the Vietnam’s Ministry of Health and the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control.
Officials said they are following the work done on the COVID-19 prevention and control work carried out in other countries that have hosted sports events during the pandemic period.
Among the controls that they will impose are the protocols done during the Tokyo Olympics, Paralympics, and the football matches in World Cup qualifiers.
The total budget that was initially allocated by the Vietnamese government for this edition of SEA Games was estimated to be $69.3 million.
Meanwhile, the venue for tennis competition has been proposed to be relocated to Bắc Ninh Province.
There are also plans to have Việt Trì Stadium host a men’s football group, along with the Thiên TrÆ°á»ng Stadium during the group stage of the sport. This is aside from the My Dinh Stadium, which will handle the finals in Hanoi.