2020 ASEAN Para Games

The 2020 ASEAN Para Games, officially known as the 10th ASEAN Para Games, is a cancelled biannual multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities which was intended to be held after the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. Participants were expected from 11 countries in Southeast Asia. The games, patterned after the Paralympics, was to include athletes with various disabilities.

X ASEAN Para Games
Host cityVarious
(See below)
MottoWe Win As One
Nations11
Athletes2,000 (projected)[1] (expected)
Events500 in 16 sports
Opening3 October 2020 (canceled)
Closing9 October 2020 (canceled)
Opened byRodrigo Duterte
President of the Philippines (expected)
Closed byRodrigo Duterte
President of the Philippines (expected)
Athlete's OathFrancesca Altomonte (expected)
Judge's OathDaren Vitug (expected)
Torch lighterManny Pacquiao
Nesthy Petecio (planned)
Main venuePhilippine Arena
(opening ceremony) (expected)
New Clark City Athletic Stadium
(closing ceremony) (expected)
Website2020 ASEAN Para Games

Originally scheduled to be held from 3 to 9 October 2020, but due to the COVID-19 situation in the Philippines, the Games had to be cancelled as there was no other choice.

This was to have been the second time Philippines hosting the ASEAN Para Games with the first being in 2005.[2]

The Games was initially set to be held in at the second week of January 2020[3] but was delayed to March 2020, about three months after the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, due to financial and logistical constraints despite it is only five months prior to the 2020 Summer Paralympics. The sporting event was postponed for a second time, to October 3 to 9, 2020, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. This followed the 2020 Summer Paralympics who were delayed to the following year for the same reason.[4]

The Games were formally canceled on May 8, after the Philippine government reallocated funds meant for the games to efforts against the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.

Development

Host selection

It is customary for the host nation of the Southeast Asian Games to also host the ASEAN Para Games within the same year. In July 2012, Brunei was initially selected to host the 30th Southeast Asian Games; consequentially the 10th ASEAN Para Games.[5] However, on 4 June 2015, Brunei withdrew its hosting rights to the Games due to absence of government support.[6] The withdrawal of Brunei's hosting rights were also due to the country's lack of sporting facilities, accommodation, and preparation of their athletes.

With Brunei's withdrawal, the Philippines[7] and Thailand expressed its interest to host the games.[8] Vietnam, the 2021 Southeast Asian Games host, was also offered to host the 2019 SEA Games, but declined.[9]

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) in July 2017 announced that the Philippines will be hosting the Games.[10] However within the same month, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) addressed the POC that it is withdrawing its support for the Philippine hosting of the 2019 Games, saying that government decided to reallocate funds meant for hosting to the rehabilitation efforts of Marawi, which was left devastated following the Battle of Marawi.[11][12] It was later reported that the POC's insistence on handling all matters of the hosting; finance, security and the conduct of the Games as it did for the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, which led to the withdrawal of support by the PSC.[13] However, on August 16, the Philippines, through the POC president Peping Cojuangco, confirmed that the country will be hosting the 2019 SEA Games, after Cojuangco wrote to President Rodrigo Duterte and appealed for reconsideration.[14]

During the closing ceremony of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur, the symbolic ASEAN Para Sports Federation council flag was handed over by Malaysian Paralympic Council President SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin to the Paralympic Committee of the Philippines (PPC) president Michael I. Barredo. In contrast of other closing ceremonies held throughout the ASEAN Para Games, only a video promoting tourism and featured disabled athletes in the Philippines was presented instead of a grand presentation for the next host country.

Preparations
Officials of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation make a ceremonial toast to mark the one year countdown for the Games.

Preparations for the Philippines' hosting of the 10th ASEAN Para Games officially began by April 2018. Then-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter Cayetano is serving as the chairman of the 10th ASEAN Para Games organizing committee.[2]

The official one-year countdown for the 2020 ASEAN Para Games was held at the Novotel Manila Araneta Center in Quezon City on January 18, 2019; exactly one year before the scheduled opening of the games.[15]

Delays and cancellation

Due to financial and logistical constraints the games[16] were rescheduled for March 20 to 28, 2020.[17] Malaysia formally protested the move, saying that postponing the games, affected their preparations for the competition including concerns over bookings for members of their delegation.[18]

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) expressed that an undisclosed amount of television broadcast revenue from the 2019 Southeast Asian Games should be used to fund the hosting of the ASEAN Para Games.[19]

In February, the 2020 ASEAN Para Games was postponed for the second time, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. It was initially planned that the games be held sometime between March and June[20] before it was tentatively scheduled for October 3 to 9, 2020.[4]

However the PSC on April 29 withdrew funding for the Games following a directive from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to defer sporting events in the Philippines until December 2020 and the government's call to redirect resources to deal with the pandemic.[21] The ASEAN Para Sports Federation announced on May 8, the formal cancellation of the 2020 ASEAN Para Games.[22]

Venues

Just like the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, the 2020 ASEAN Para Games was to be hosted in three hubs in Clark, Manila, and Subic.[3] The opening and closing ceremonies were planned to be held in Clark. Under the pretense that the games were to host 17 sports including a demonstration event; nine sports will be held at venues at the New Clark City and the Clark Freeport Zone, six sports at the Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone, tenpin bowling at the Santa Lucia Lanes in Cainta, Rizal and obstacle course at the SM Aura at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Metro Manila.[23]

The Games

Participating nations

All 11 members of ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF) were expected to take part in the 2020 ASEAN para Games. Prior to the postponement of the games to March 2020, about 1,500 athletes are expected to participate with Thailand sending the biggest delegation. Below is a list of all expected participating NPCs.[24]

Note: number of listed athletes as per December 2019[24]

Sports

The ASEAN Para Sports Federation hosted a meeting at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Metro Manila from June 8 to 9 which was to determine which sports are to be contested in the 2020 Para Games.[3] The organizers had initial plans to host 14 sports. There were additional plans to host four more sports namely: 7-a-side (cerebral palsy) football, triathlon, wheelchair tennis and shooting [25] By January 24, the host was targeting to organize around 500 events covering 16 sports and a demonstration event.[23]

Demonstration sports

See also

References
  1. "ASEAN Para Games in Manila". Manila Standard. 27 April 2018. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. "Manila to host 10th ASEAN Para Games". Manila Bulletin. 27 April 2018. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  3. "Meeting set for Philippines' hosting of 10th ASEAN Para Games". The Philippine Star. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  4. "ASEAN Para Games postponed to October". ABS-CBN News. March 18, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  5. Quratul-ain Bandial (21 March 2014). "Brunei ready to host 2019 SEA Games". The Brunei Times. Archived from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  6. Johnston, Patrick (5 June 2015). "Brunei withdraw from hosting 2019 SEA Games". Reuters. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  7. "Philippines may host 2019 SEA Games as Brunei withdraws". Agence France-Presse. Rappler. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  8. Kittipong Thongsombat (6 June 2015). "Thailand aims to rescue 2019 Games". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  9. "PH to host 2019 SEA Games after Brunei, Vietnam decline". Manila Bulletin. 12 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  10. "Philippines set to host 2019 SEA Games". Rappler. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  11. "PH withdraws hosting of 2019 SEA games". ABS-CBN News. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  12. Escarlote, Mark (July 21, 2017). "PHI withdraws from hosting 2019 Southeast Asian Games". ABS-CBN Sports.
  13. "Fernandez says POC forced PSC to back out of SEAG". Sun Star Cebu. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  14. Giongco, Nick (17 August 2017). "PH to host 2019 SEA Games". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  15. Morales, Luisca (19 January 2019). "Philippines begins countdown to 10th ASEAN Para Games". Philippine Star. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  16. Lozada, Bong (20 December 2019). "PH Asean Para Games moved to March due to 'funding constraints'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  17. San Juan, Ratziel (21 December 2019). "Philippines' 2nd hosting of ASEAN Para Games pushed back over budget issues". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  18. "The 2020 Asean Para Games postponement was unfair: Chef de Mission". The Sun Daily. Bernama. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  19. Velasco, Bill (28 December 2019). "PSC: SEAG TV revenue to fund Para Games". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  20. Villar, Joey (7 February 2020). "NCAA succumbs to coronavirus scare, postpones all high school games". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  21. "PSC-sanctioned events 'canceled until December'". Dugout Philippines. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  22. "2020 ASEAN Para Games officially canceled". The Jakarta Post. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  23. Henson, Joaquin (24 January 2020). "Philippines prepares for Asean Para Games". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  24. "Thailand gunning for top spot at Philippines 2020". Bangkok Post. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  25. Dioquino, Delfin (19 January 2019). "4 more sports targeted for 2020 ASEAN Para Games". Rappler. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  26. "Allianz solidifies support for Para-OCR athletes in coming ASEAN Para-Games". Manila Standard. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
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