SEA Games in question due to SARS outbreak

SEA Games in question due to SARS outbreak

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Sports Council (KONI) is monitoring developments in
the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and will
wait until September to decide whether to send athletes to the
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games scheduled for this December in
Vietnam.

"We will see how SARS develops and the World Health
Organization (WHO)'s account of the disease. Is Vietnam already
free of SARS?

"We (member countries) may wait until September when we are
supposed to make a final evaluation of whether the Games should
go ahead, be canceled or be moved to another country," KONI
secretary-general Oyong Karmayudha said here on Tuesday.

The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Vietnam decided to
cancel the SEA Games federation executive committee meeting,
which was scheduled to take place in Ho Chi Minh City on
Thursday.

Thailand had already announced it would not attend the meeting
and there is speculation that the cancellation was prompted by
the SARS scare.

Oyong brushed aside such speculation, saying the cancellation
had nothing to do with SARS.

However, he failed to provide any reason for the cancellation.

"I don't know. The letter does not cite any reason," Oyong
told The Jakarta Post, referring to a letter from Vietnam's NOC.

Despite the cancellation of the executive committee meeting, a
meeting of national sports councils will go ahead as scheduled
the following Friday, Oyong said.

"We received a letter this morning about the cancellation of
the executive committee meeting and another one the following
afternoon informing us that the council meeting would proceed,"
he said.

The executive committee meeting, which KONI's head of
supervision and finances Indra Kartasasmita was to have attended,
was going to discuss the number of events at the Games. The
results of the meeting were to have been presented during the
council meeting.

"The organizers may be looking to have the issue discussed at
just one meeting," said Oyong, who will attend the council
meeting.

Asked what issues he was going to bring to the meeting, Oyong
said he first had to meet with Djoko Pramono, the head of the
national training program for the SEA Games.

"We want to pass along the wish of some sports officials here
to have the classes of their sports increased.

"But we cannot yet say which sports want the increase. Wait
until we meet with Pak Djoko tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said.