No more a 'circus' as SEA Games put cap on non-Olympic sports

File pix of Malaysian contingent for SEA Games

PETALING JAYA: Only four non-Olympic sports can be included in the SEA Games starting from the 2025 edition in Bangkok.

With the decision, SEA Games will no longer see hosts manipulating the programme by including many traditional sports to increase the medal tally.

In the Cambodia SEA Games in May this year for instance, traditional martial art sports such as Kun Khmer, Kun Bokator and Vovinam were included in the programme and the hosts went on to capture a whopping 32 gold medals from the three sports.

Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria said the change had been made to restore the quality of the regional Games.

"The SEA Games Federation have amended the Games charter to limit the number of non-Olympic sports to four in the competition," said Norza after chairing the 42nd OCM executive meeting at the Academy Badminton of Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara on Saturday (Dec 16).

"In line with this, we have to decide which sports to include in 2027 where we will be the hosts."