Authorities in Vietnam are planning to take advantage of a Southeast Asian (SEA) sports festival the SEA Games Federation has asked the country to host to upgrade sporting facilities in Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2003, Hanoi hosted the 22^nd SEA Games and it is expected that the tournament, which was first held in 1959, will return to the nation in 18 years.

Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest economic hub of the Southeast Asia country, will likely be selected as the host of the 2021 SEA Games.

The organization of the 31th SEA Games

Chris Chan, chairman of the SEAGF Sport and Rules Committee, sent a letter to Hoang Tuan Anh, chairman of the Vietnam Olympic Committee (VOC), on March 19 to urge the nation’s government to confirm the hosting of the event in Vietnam.

SEA Games is organized every two years and the host is chosen on a rotational basis, according to the letter.

Malaysia has confirmed to host the 29^th SEA Games in 2017. The SEA Games Federation has requested that Brunei follow in 2019, Vietnam in 2021, and Cambodia in 2023.

Cambodia was slated to organize the 2021 SEA Games but the nation then asked for a delay, so Vietnam has been named the host of the 31th sports festival.

Tran Van Manh, VOC general secretary, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that hosting such an event is both the interest and responsibility of every nation in the Southeast Asian region.

As the charter of the SEA Games Federation goes, the confirmation of the Olympic committee and the government of a nation to host an edition of the SEA Games must be made at least four years before it takes place.

Any cancelation is ruled to be announced one year after a country is chosen as the host and the sports festival will be moved to the next country in the rotational cycle.

Vuong Bich Thang, head of the General Sports Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said the ministry will submit a report on the issue to the government for approval and the VOC will give an official reply in a SEAGF meeting on June 4 in Singapore.

Vietnamese sports authorities are planning to hold the 2021 SEA Games in Ho Chi Minh City if it is approved by the government.

An opportunity to upgrade sports facilities in Ho Chi Minh City

To host a SEA Games edition, Ho Chi Minh City will need to build new facilities and upgrade the old ones, including a new stadium with 50,000-60,000 seats, an aquatic sports complex, security equipment, and accommodation.

Le Hung Dung, chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation, said the city has been in need of a better stadium to organize international football events.

The current Thong Nhat Stadium can seat no more than 40,000 people.

The southern hub already missed several good chances to host major football tournaments in the absence of a qualified stadium, Dung added.

No major sports tournament has been organized in the city during the past 40 years, Pham Van Tuan, vice head of the General Sports Department, said.

The organization of the 2021 SEA Games will help spur the sports sector in the entire southern region, including the Mekong Delta, Tuan noted.

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