Hanoi and ten other provinces and cities will host the 31 edition of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games from late November to early December next year, and the ASEAN Para Games 11 weeks later, according to the organizing board.

Vietnam hosts the online meetings of the executive committee and executive council of the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) on July 21-22. Photo:General Department of Sports and Physical Training

The online meetings of the executive committee and executive council of the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) was chaired by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien earlier this week.

At the meeting, Minister Thien emphasized that as the host of the Games, Vietnam will open a new SEA Games era, which will not lay emphasis on winning medals at all costs but will focus on improving quality, especially for sports of the Olympic Games and the Asian Games (ASIAD).

At the SEA Games 31, athletes are expected to compete in 36 sports according to the newly-approved plan by the Vietnamese prime minister. Other regional countries proposed including another 21 sports in the program. 

However, the organizing board will consider the additional list based on the regulation that total sports at the Games would not exceed 40. The 36 sports to be competed will be carefully selected by Vietnam to ensure fairness, Thien added.

Meanwhile, 14 sports will be in the program for the Para Games 11.

In November, the SEAGF plans to organize another meeting where the list of sports and events for the tournament will be finalized.

This is the second SEA Games hosting of Vietnam. The previous one, the 22nd SEA Games, was held in 2003 in Hanoi.