Ho Chi Minh City will likely lose the opportunity to host the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2021 to Hanoi on grounds of construction cost, according to Vietnamese sports authorities.

Vuong Bich Thang, head of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, announced that information at the end of this week.

In addition to hosting the 2021 SEA Games, Hanoi will also be allowed to organize the 8th National Sports Festival in 2018, a tournament held every four years, for the same reason of cutting construction cost.

Earlier, An Giang Province in the Mekong Delta was awarded the right to host the 2018 Festival by the prime minister and Ho Chi Minh City was favored as the host of the 2021 SEA Games.

“The prime minister has demanded that cities and provinces not build new facilities to host domestic and international sports events in order to save money,” Thang said.

Accordingly, both An Giang and Ho Chi Minh City are not qualified to host an edition of a domestic multi-sport festival, he added.

Hanoi is the only locality in Vietnam that has proper facilities such as well-built stadiums, sports complexes, and others for shooting, swimming, and the like.

The 31st SEA Games is scheduled to take place from late November to December in 2021 and will feature some 30-36 sports, mainly those played at the Olympics.

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