KUALA LUMPUR – The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) is set to consult with the National Sports Council (NSC) to evaluate the performance of select sports bodies before making a final appeal for their inclusion in next year’s Bangkok SEA Games.
This comes after OCM successfully secured the inclusion of several sports, such as cricket, karate, tenpin bowling, weightlifting, wushu, canoeing, chess, kabaddi, skateboarding, sport climbing, water skiing, wakeboarding, and woodball, in the biennial event.
However, bodybuilding, lawn bowls, contract bridge, and dancesport have not yet been approved by the Bangkok Games Federation for inclusion.
OCM secretary-general Datuk Nazifuddin Najib stated that discussions with the NSC will take place in the coming weeks to determine whether these sports have strong enough prospects to win medals for the national contingent.
“We have yet to decide, as we are still waiting for NSC’s input and the performance reports from the relevant sports bodies before proceeding with the appeal.
“The discussion is crucial because it will allow us to assess whether these sports deserve to participate in the Games and if they are eligible to compete.
“We may not proceed with the appeal if the NSC determines their performance is not strong enough for the games,” said Nazifuddin during the 210th OCM executive council meeting at Wisma OCM today.
The OCM also mentioned that the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) Office has announced the final list of 50 sports and two demonstration sports for the 2025 Thailand SEA Games.
The final list of sports will be tabled for endorsement and approval at the second SEAGF Council meeting in Bangkok on October 25.
Next year’s SEA Games is scheduled to take place from December 9 to 20, with the opening ceremony set to be held at Rajamangala Stadium.
At the previous edition of the SEA Games, held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Malaysia finished seventh in the medal standings, with a total of 34 gold, 45 silver, and 96 bronze medals. — September 28, 2024