KUALA LUMPUR – The selection of athletes for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham is to be decided on June 14, according to Malaysian Olympic Council (OCM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.
“We will be conducting a meeting to decide on the athletes who will be leaving for Birmingham,” he said.
Norza confirmed that the Commonwealth Games Federation has qualified 37 athletes for rugby, table tennis, weightlifting and para-athletes, while another 94 athletes will be going through a selection process on June 14.
Meanwhile, commenting on the recent conclusion of the SEA Games in Hanoi, Norza said that a post-mortem report will be prepared soon.
“Chef de mission Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad will have a post-mortem with the team managers to prepare the report soon.
“With the report, we can determine what is our roadmap for going forward.
“Do we only send our athletes to (the) SEA Games just to be successful or will it be our preparation for (the) Asian Games and ultimately the Olympics?” he said, after chairing the OCM executive board meeting today.
As for the 2027 SEA Games edition to be hosted in Malaysia, Norza explained that OCM will hold talks with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu soon about the biennial event.
“Normally, the SEA Games cycles (to host) would come every 19 to 20 years. But this time around, we are lucky to host it again after 10 years.
“We previously hosted the Games in 2017, which means now we have five years to plan for everything.”
OCM will also be holding talks with the government to decide on the concept for the 2027 Games, and whether it is to be held in Kuala Lumpur or co-hosted with other states.
“We need to come up with a hosting concept. I think our country has a complete facility.
“Seeing that it is 5 years away, we have to consider every step. Commitment from the government is important and they can dictate what kind of SEA games they would want to host.”
Among other things that were discussed during the meeting was the cancellation of the 2021 Asian Youth Games in Shantou, China and the 2025 edition in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
As for next year’s SEA Games in Cambodia, Norza added that the SEA Games Federation meeting will be held from July 2 to 3 in Phnom Penh to decide the list of sports to be contested. – The Vibes, June 7, 2022