Southeast Asian Games to be postponed to 2022 owing to fresh COVID outbreak in Vietnam

The Southeast Asian Games 2021, which is due to be held in Vietnam later this year, has been postponed to 2022 by the Games federation, Malaysia's Olympic Council said on Thursday.

"The SEA Games Federation members praised the work done thus far by the Vietnam organising committee but took note of the current conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Southeast Asian region," it said in an announcement on its website after a meeting of the federation on Thursday.

The regional Olympics were scheduled to be held in Hanoi and 11 other locations from November 21 to December 2. However, with Vietnam struggling to contain a new coronavirus outbreak, multiple Southeast Asian Games events which were planned ito be held in the provinces are hard-hit by the fresh wave of COVID.

The decision comes after Vietnam announced a lockdown in the city of Ho Chi Minh City for two weeks on Friday.

Vietnam is currently facing its worst virus outbreak so far, with nearly 23,500 cases and 105 deaths recorded so far. Prior to the latest outbreak, fewer than 3,000 cases had been recorded across the country.

A new date will now be determined by the SEA Games Federation Council for the event that is held every year.

Tokyo Olympics considering hosting games without spectators

Tokyo Olympics is likely to be held without spectators due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, a government official said on Wednesday, July 7 as reported by ANI. As per sources, Japan has declared another state of emergency in Tokyo until August 22 and with the Olympics scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8. The athletes' village for the Tokyo Olympics pre-opened on Wednesday, mainly for officials of team delegations.

There is concern amongst the locals regarding the influx of thousands of people from around the world which could potentially unleash another wave of infections. Events at large venues and night events after 9 pm would also be held without spectators, while the number of VIPs such as sponsors' guests and diplomats at the opening ceremony would be reduced sharply from an initial estimate of about 10,000.

As per sources, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday did not say whether the spectator capacity would be cut short and he said that it was an issue to be addressed by the five organising bodies of the Summer Games, including the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo metropolitan government. On Wednesday, the Tokyo metropolitan government had reported 920 new COVID-19 cases, marking the highest daily figures since mid-May. The Tokyo Games had to be rescheduled from last year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and is scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8 this year.

(Image Credits: AP)