Although being hosted by the same city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the plan to have the 2017 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) and 2017 Asean Para Games occur during separate timeframes will continue on schedule. On Friday, July 15th, the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) rejected Malaysia’s proposal to host the two international competitive sporting events concurrently.
In a vote of 9 to 11 against the proposal, the SEA Games will continue as slated for August 19th-31st, while the Asean Para Games will be held after, with dates to be determined. Only Malaysia and Laos were in favor of running the events simultaneously.
Of the vote, SEAGF Chairman Tan Sri Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafr said, “Many countries had shown their interest but when it was time to vote whether to accept the decision, nine countries voted to support yesterday’s decision.” He cited one of the reasons for maintaining separation of the events as the “tradition and culture that has long been maintained by the SEAGF.”
Also confirmed during the same meeting was that the 2019 version of the SEA GAmes will be held in the Philippines.