Budgets for SEA Games and ParaGames cut due to coronavirus
The coronavirus has impacted sports this year and now 2021 events are starting to feel the pinch, including the 31st Southeast Asian Games and the 11th ParaGames in Vietnam.
The Vietnam delegation at the 30th SEA Games opening ceremony in the Philippines in 2019 (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The coronavirus hasimpacted sports this year and now 2021 events are starting to feel the pinch,including the 31st Southeast Asian Games and the 11th ParaGames in Vietnam.
Both events have had their organising budgets slashed as the Governmentredirects resources to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has been assigned to approve a planto host these events in the Hanoi and surrounding provinces. An organisingcommittee was expected to be set up in February and the first meeting was to beheld in March or April.
However, with the whole nation focusing on fighting the pandemic, mostactivities concerning sports have been delayed, meaning the organisingcommittee has not been established and no meeting has been held.
The plan has not been approved because the budget for organising the event andupgrading facilities has been slashed.
The expense to organise the events has been cut almost in half to1 trillion VND (42.5 million USD), about 900 billion VND (38.2 million USD)less than the original budget.
The expense to upgrade facilities for the events has also been cut from805 billion VND to 600 billion VND (34.2 - 25.5 million USD).
It is the second time will Vietnam host a SEA Games, scheduled for November 21to December 2. The ParaGames will run from December 14-21./.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has set up a national steering committee for the organisation of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) and the 11th Southeast Asian Para Games (ASEAN Para Games 11) in 2021.
The first Vietnamese athlete to clinch a spot in the country’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics team, swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang then suffered the disappointment of seeing the world’s largest sporting event delayed by a year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The My Dinh National Stadium will be repaired at the end of October to prepare for the organisation of SEA Games 2021, according to the National Sports Administration.
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Eight teams will join the tournament, divided into two groups. Group A features Vietnam, the Philippines, Sichuan Club (China), and Australia, while Group B consists of Vietnam U21, Korabelka Club (Russia), Taiwan (China), and U21 Thailand.
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The event formed part of Vietnam’s ongoing campaign to seek UNESCO World Heritage status for the complex at the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled to take place in Paris in July.
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This marks the first time Vietnam has hosted a continental-level Muay event which will feature competitions across 28 weight categories in combat and eight performance categories.
Coming to the Vietnamese booth, visitors had the chance to take part in a bamboo dance, a workshop on painting woven bamboo or rattan, or quizzes about Vietnam.
These are impressive achievements, not only showing the efforts and prowess of Vietnamese paddlers but also serving as proof of the sports sector’s strategic and systematic investment.
The cultural event in Canberra not only fostered cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Australia but also contributed to promoting Vietnam’s image internationally
The Vietnam delegation at the 30th SEA Games opening ceremony in the Philippines in 2019 (Photo: VNA) 
