Thailand laments rival Games plan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The 18th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Organizing
\nCommittee strongly opposed yesterday a proposal to stage a rival
\nsporting meet in Hanoi, labeling the plan a threat to the
\nregion's harmony.<\/p>\n
\"We are very sorry about the proposal and totally against it,\"
\nthe committee's deputy secretary general Santiparb Tejavanija
\ntold reporters yesterday.<\/p>\n
Tejavanija was commenting on the plan revealed by Rio
\nTambunan, a foreign affairs official at the National Sports
\nCouncil (KONI) on Thursday. Tejavanija has been giving lectures
\nin a five-day national sports leadership course, which concluded
\ntoday.<\/p>\n
Rio said Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam have
\nreached an agreement to hold a sporting event contesting karate,
\nwushu and wrestling only, ahead of the SEA Games in Chiang Mai.
\nThe committee decided last November to exclude the three events
\nfrom 28 sports to be contested in the Dec. 9-17 Games. Rio said
\nthe proposal was a political maneuver to force the committee to
\nreconsider its decision.<\/p>\n
An emotion-filled Tejavanija, who called Tambunan a new person
\nin the SEA Games affairs, said that staging rival events would
\nspoil the 36-year-old tradition of the Games.<\/p>\n
\"There is no need to press against us. We don't care about
\nit,\" said Tejavanija. He added that the committee would not
\nreconsider admitting those three events into the medal events
\nlist.<\/p>\n
\"The selection of the sports has finished and received
\nagreement from all participating countries,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He denied rumors saying that the committee dropped the three
\nsports after a plan to include Thailand's traditional martial art
\nwas turned down.<\/p>\n
\"The Thailand National Olympic Committee is the first to
\nreject the proposal,\" Tejavanija said. \"We never did any
\nbargaining in selecting the sports.\"<\/p>\n
Beyond capacity<\/p>\n
Tejavanija, who is also the treasurer of Thailand's National
\nOlympic Committee, said the organizing committee has tried to
\nfulfill expectations from participating countries as best it
\ncould, but admitted that the host had limited capacities.<\/p>\n
\"We agreed to have the traditional martial art silat olahraga,
\ntraditional boat races and other sports which Indonesia can excel
\nin the Games. To the contrary, we have only rugby,\" Tejavanija
\ncited examples to confirm that the selection procedures ran
\nfairly.<\/p>\n
Tejavanija said the committee did not favor karate since it
\nhas never been contested in the Olympic Games. It also refused to
\ninclude wrestling, a traditional Olympic sport, and wushu since
\nThailand has no activities in either sports.<\/p>\n
The committee picked two compulsory sports, swimming and track
\nand field, and all 19 secondary sports: archery, badminton,
\nbasketball, bowling (ten pin), boxing, cycling, fencing, golf,
\ngymnastics, hockey, judo, sepak takraw, shooting, soccer, tennis,
\ntable tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and yachting.<\/p>\n
It also gave approval to eight third category sports, as
\nsuggested by the SEA Games rules. They include billiard,
\nequestrian, rowing, rugby, silat olahraga, squash, taekwondo and
\ntraditional boat races.<\/p>\n
The 18th SEA Games are expecting 6,000 athletes and officials.
\nThey will be accommodated in a new athlete village during the
\ncompetitions.<\/p>\n
The Thailand government has spent US$50 million on the
\nconstruction of sports facility projects in Chiang Mai.<\/p>\n
All facilities are expected to be completed three months
\nbefore the opening ceremony. (amd)<\/p>",
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