A case of the host with the mostest?
A case of the host with the mostest?
Agencies, Manila
It helps to be the host in winning the overall medal
standings.
Vietnam won its first overall title at the last Games in 2003,
with Malaysia accomplishing the same feat on home soil in 2001.
The Philippines -- powered by foreign athletes of Filipino
descent -- is also expected to do well and might end up on top of
the heap for the first time in the 46-year history of the Games.
Among the "imports" expected to boost the Philippines'
campaign are Filipino-American netters Cecil Mamiit and Frederick
Taino as well as Filipino-British brothers James Joseph and
Philip James Younghusband, who are part of the English club
Chelsea's reserve team.
Vietnam, which is out to prove that its conquest of the last
Games was not a fluke, has also sent a large delegation to defend
its title. With the Games about to open on Sunday, a Vietnamese
official alleged that the outcome of the Games was already fixed
with the Philippines expected to take the biggest portion of the
441 medals up for grabs, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.
A Hanoi newspaper quoted Vietnamese delegation head Nguyen
Hong Minh as saying that the final tally for this year's Games
would have the Philippines win the overall championship with 120
gold medals, followed by Thailand with 90 and Vietnam and
Indonesia with 60 to 70.
The accusations have touched a raw nerve among Filipino
officials as the Philippines struggles with a political crisis
brought about by allegations that President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo fixed last year's hotly contested presidential vote.
Congressman Monico Puentevella, who vigorously defended Arroyo
in September in the ultimately unsuccessful impeachment bid
against her in the House of Representatives, has demanded a
public apology from Nguyen.
But Cojuangco, who is also the president of the Philippine
Olympic Committee, refused to directly react to the report and
said he would wait for clarification from the Vietnamese
official.
"I don't think any responsible official would say those
things," he said in a statement. "I think it could be a case of
misinterpretation. The SEA Games always adhere to an atmosphere
of friendly competition."
Cojuangco said a respectable performance by the Philippine
team could provide a lift for the country's sagging spirits.
"Sports can bring us together - unite us in this troubled
time," he told reporters at a forum.
Executive secretary Eduardo Ermita expressed confidence that
the 742-member Philippine delegation, the biggest among the
competing countries, could achieve the goal of winning the
overall medals crown.
"We are not only hopeful," he said. "We are confident this
time the Philippines will bag most of the golds, and we will get
the overall championship."