Basketball still absent in Games’ calendar

THE inclusion of basketball and water polo in the coming Southeast Asian Games in Laos remained unresolved.

A top sports official in Malaysia funding issues of the two sports have kept them from being added to the calendar of events of the biennial meet. which will be held in Vientiane later this year.

But, Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary-general Datuk Sieh Kok Chi told the Star of Malaysia that the two events may still be included as there are discussions in the Philippines and Singapore to fund them.

Basketball is a favorite sport among Filipinos, while the Singaporeans are passionate about water polo.

Last November, athletics chief Go Teng Kok and Julian Camacho of wushu lobbied for basketball’s inclusion during a SEA Games Federation Council meeting.

Kok Chi said the status of basketball and water polo in the regional sports meet remained in doubt after he clarified that not 25, but 26 sports disciplines will be played in the SEA Games.

He said that the Games’ organizing committee mistakenly included soft tennis as part of the regular sport of lawn tennis.

“At the last SEA Games Federation Council meeting on Nov. 13, the final list of sports and events approved and announced were 25 sports and 390 events. This is wrong as the Games’ organizing committee had wrongly included soft tennis as part of tennis. Soft tennis has to be considered a different sport from tennis because it comes under the jurisdiction of a different international federation. Hence, the total number of sports in the Games is 26 and 390 events,” stated Kok Chi.

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