Cambodia to host SEA Games in 2023, followed by Thailand in 2025, Malaysia in 2027, and Singapore in 2029

Malaysia will host the 2027 SEA Games and Singapore the 2029 edition, the two countries said on Thursday, hours in front of the opening ceremony of the Covid-postponed 2021 showpiece in Vietnam. The 34th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) will be held in Malaysia in 2027, and its subsequent 35th edition will be hosted by neighboring Singapore in 2029.

Olympic Council of Malaysia president Norza Zakaria said in a statement that a meeting at a Hanoi inn saw the SEA Games Federation “unanimously” award his country the event for the seventh time.

Singapore’s Olympic Council said on Facebook that the city-state will hold the biennial Games for the fifth time.

On its Facebook page, the Olympic Council of Malaysia reported on 12 May that the Southeast Asian Games Federation had “unanimously awarded” the 34th edition of the competition to the country.

Then again, a joint statement was given around the same day by the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) and Sport Singapore (SportSG), which said the tournament’s appearance in the city-state in 2029.

“We are pleased to host the prestigious regional sporting event in Singapore again,” council president Tan Chuan-Jin said in the social media post.

Here’s what you should need to know about the 34th and 35th editions of the SEA Games

Malaysia takes over from Brunei

Malaysia hosted the SEA Games in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur. In this manner, a decade would take a break until the 34th edition is held in the country.

Albeit the 2027 tournament was initially scheduled to happen in Brunei, the coastal country pulled out of the SEA Games in 2021. Malaysia then stepped in to fill the spot.

Interesting opportunity for Singapore, says minister

The SNOC and SportSG said that Singapore’s offer was accepted by the SEA Games Federation at a meeting held in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, on 12 May.

“We are pleased that we will host the prestigious regional sporting event in Singapore again. The SEA Games holds special memories and experiences for Singapore and our Southeast Asian neighbors,” said SNOC President Tan Chuan-Jin in a Facebook post.

“The camaraderie and rivalry we share are distinct and Singapore is once again happy to organize the 35th SEA Games to relive these moments,” Chuan-Jin added.

In another Facebook post, Minister for Culture, Community, and Youth Edwin Tong said that it offers “our Team Singapore athletes an opportunity to compete against some of the best in the region, with strong home ground support.”

“It’s also a great time to showcase our hospitality, and further strengthen the ties with our Southeast Asian neighbors,” Tong added.

Singapore’s best-ever performance in the SEA Games since the 1975 South East Asian Peninsular Games in Thailand was in 2015, the last time it hosted the Games. In the event, the nation won 84 gold, 73 silver, and 102 bronze medals for a total of 259 medals.

About SEA Games

The 31st SEA Games is in progress in Hanoi, postponed from 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be followed by the 32nd edition in Cambodia in 2023 and the 33rd Games will be hosted by Thailand in 2025.

The biennial competition was first held in 1959 as the SEA Peninsular Games.

The 2021 Games in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi were postponed a half year due to Covid and are set to open later Thursday officially.

The 2023 SEA Games are planned to be held in Cambodia and 2025 will be in the Thai capital Bangkok.