SEA Games

SEA Games, officially known as the South East Asian Games and abbreviated as SEAG, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supervision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

SEA Games

The Southeast Asian Games Federation logo
The South East Asian Games Federation Flag
Abbreviation	SEAG
First event	1959 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games in Bangkok, Thailand
Occur every	2 years (every odd year)
Next event	2025 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Chonburi, and Songkhla, Thailand
Purpose	Multi sport event for nations on the Southeast Asian subcontinent
Headquarters	Bangkok, Thailand
President	Charouck Arirachakaran
Website	SEAGFoffice.org

The SEA Games is one of the five subregional Games of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).^[1]

History

The SEA Games owes its origins to the South East Asian Peninsular Games or SEAP Games (abbreviated as SEAPG). On 22 May 1958, delegates from the countries in Southeast Asian Peninsula attending the Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan had a meeting and agreed to establish a sports organization. The SEAP Games was conceptualized by Luang Sukhum Nayapradit, then vice-president of the Thailand Olympic Committee. The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event will help promote co-operation, understanding, and relations among countries in the Southeast Asian region.

Six countries, Burma (now Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, Malaya (now Malaysia), Thailand and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) were the founding members. These countries agreed to hold the Games biennially in June 1959 and the SEAP Games Federation Committee was formed thereafter.^[2]

The first SEAP Games were held in Bangkok from 12 to 17 December 1959, with more than 527 athletes and officials from 6 countries; Burma (now Myanmar), Laos, Malaya, Singapore, South Vietnam and Thailand participated in 12 sports.

At the 8th SEAP Games in 1975, the SEAP Federation considered the inclusion of Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines. These countries were formally admitted in 1977, the same year when SEAP Federation changed their name to the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF), and the games were known as the Southeast Asian Games. Despite its location closer to the Pacific archipelago than the Asian continent and not being a member of ASEAN, East Timor was admitted at the 22nd SEA Games in 2003 Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh City.

The 2009 SEA Games was the first time Laos has ever hosted a SEA Games (Laos had previously declined to host the 1965 SEAP Games citing financial difficulties). Running from 9–18 December, it has also commemorated the 50 years of the SEA Games, held in Vientiane, Laos. The 2023 SEA Games, held from 5–17 May, was the first time Cambodia has ever hosted a SEA Games (Cambodia was awarded the 1963 SEAP Games, which was cancelled due to domestic political situation).

Symbol

The Southeast Asian Games symbol was introduced during the 1959 SEAP Games in Bangkok, depicting six rings that represent the six founding members and was used until the 1997 edition in Jakarta. The number of rings increased to 10 during the 1999 edition in Brunei to reflect the inclusion of Singapore, which was admitted into the Southeast Asian Games Federation in 1961, and Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines, which joined the organization in 1977. The number of rings was again increased to 11 during the 2011 Games in Indonesia to reflect the federation's newest member, East Timor, which was admitted in 2003.

Participating NOCs

NOC Names	Debuted	IOC code	Other codes used
Brunei	1977	BRU	BRN (ISO)
Cambodia	1961	CAM	KHM (1972–1976, ISO)
Indonesia	1977	INA	IHO (1952), IDN (FIFA, ISO)
Laos	1959	LAO
Malaysia	1959	MAS	MAL (1952−1988), MYS (ISO)
Myanmar	1959	MYA	BIR (1948–1988), MMR (ISO)
Philippines	1977	PHI	PHL (ISO)
Singapore	1959	SGP	SIN (1959–2016)
Thailand	1959	THA
East Timor	2003	TLS	IOA (2000)
Vietnam	1959^[a]	VIE	VET (1964), VNM (1968–1976, ISO)

1. While   South Vietnam competed from 1959–1973,   North Vietnam never competed. Unified   Vietnam has competed since 1989.

List of Southeast Asian Games

Main article: List of Southeast Asian Games host cities

Since the SEA Games began in 1959, it has been held in 15 cities across all Southeast Asian countries except East Timor.

 

 

 

1959, 1967, 1975, 1985, 2025

 

1961, 1969

 

1965, 1971, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2017

 

1973, 1983, 1993, 2015

 

1979, 1987, 1997, 2011

 

1981, 1991, 2005

 

1995

 

1999

 

2003, 2021

 

2003

 

2007

 

2009

 

2011

 

2013

 

2019

 

2023

 

2025

 

2025

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Location of the Southeast Asian Games host

List of Southeast Asian Games

Games	Year	Host cities	Opened by	Date	Sports	Events	Nations	Competitors	Top-ranked team	Ref
Southeast Asian Peninsular Games
1	1959	Bangkok, Thailand	King Bhumibol Adulyadej	12–17 December 1959	12	67	6	518	Thailand (THA)	[1]
2	1961	Yangon, Burma	President Win Maung	11–16 December 1961	13	86	7	623	Burma (BIR)	[2]
1963		Awarded to Cambodia, cancelled due to domestic political situation
3	1965	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Yang di-Pertuan Agong Ismail Nasiruddin	14–21 December 1965	14	134	7	963	Thailand (THA)	[3]
4	1967	Bangkok, Thailand	King Bhumibol Adulyadej	9–16 December 1967	16	144	6	984	Thailand (THA)	[4]
5	1969	Yangon, Burma	Prime Minister Ne Win	6–13 December 1969	15	145	6	920	Burma (BIR)	[5]
6	1971	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdul Halim	6–13 December 1971	15	156	7	957	Thailand (THA)	[6]
7	1973	Singapore	President Benjamin Sheares	1–8 September 1973	16	161	7	1632	Thailand (THA)	[7]
8	1975	Bangkok, Thailand	King Bhumibol Adulyadej	9–16 December 1975	18	172	4	1142	Thailand (THA)	[8]
Southeast Asian Games
9	1977	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Yang di-Pertuan Agong Yahya Petra	19–26 November 1977	18	188	7	N/A	Indonesia (INA)	[9]
10	1979	Jakarta, Indonesia	President Suharto	21–30 September 1979	18	226	7	N/A	Indonesia (INA)	[10]
11	1981	Manila, Philippines	President Ferdinand Marcos	6–15 December 1981	18	245	7	≈1800	Indonesia (INA)	[11]
12	1983	Singapore	President Devan Nair	28 May – 6 June 1983	18	233	8	N/A	Indonesia (INA)	[12]
13	1985	Bangkok, Thailand	King Bhumibol Adulyadej	8–17 December 1985	18	251	8	N/A	Thailand (THA)	[13]
14	1987	Jakarta, Indonesia	President Suharto	9–20 September 1987	26	372	8	N/A	Indonesia (INA)	[14]
15	1989	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Yang di-Pertuan Agong Azlan Shah	20–31 August 1989	24	302	9	≈2800	Indonesia (INA)	[15]
16	1991	Manila, Philippines	President Corazon Aquino	24 November – 3 December 1991	28	327	9	N/A	Indonesia (INA)	[16]
17	1993	Singapore	President Wee Kim Wee	12–20 June 1993	29	318	9	≈3000	Indonesia (INA)	[17]
18	1995	Chiang Mai, Thailand	Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn	9–17 December 1995	28	335	10	3262	Thailand (THA)	[18]
19	1997	Jakarta, Indonesia	President Suharto	11–19 October 1997	36	490	10	5179	Indonesia (INA)	[19]
20	1999	Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei	Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah	7–15 August 1999	21	233	10	2365	Thailand (THA)	[20]
21	2001	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Yang di-Pertuan Agong Salahuddin	8–17 September 2001	32	391	10	4165	Malaysia (MAS)	[21]
22	2003	Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải	5–13 December 2003	32	442	11	≈5000	Vietnam (VIE)	[22]
23	2005	Manila, Philippines	President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo	27 November – 5 December 2005	40	443	11	5336	Philippines (PHI)	[23]
24	2007	Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand	Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn	6–15 December 2007	43	475	11	5282	Thailand (THA)	[24]
25	2009	Vientiane, Laos	President Choummaly Sayasone	9–18 December 2009	29	372	11	3100	Thailand (THA)	[25]
26	2011	Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia	President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono	11–22 November 2011	44	545	11	5965	Indonesia (INA)	[26]
27	2013	Naypyidaw, Myanmar	Vice President Nyan Tun	11–22 December 2013	37	460	11	4730	Thailand (THA)	[27]
28	2015	Singapore	President Tony Tan	5–16 June 2015	36	402	11	4370	Thailand (THA)	[28]
29	2017	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Yang di-Pertuan Agong Muhammad V	19–30 August 2017	38	404	11	4709	Malaysia (MAS)	[29]
30	2019	Philippines^[a]	President Rodrigo Duterte	30 November – 11 December 2019	56	530	11	5630	Philippines (PHI)	[30]
31	2021	Hanoi, Vietnam^[b]	President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc	12–23 May 2022	40	526	11	5467	Vietnam (VIE)
32	2023	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Prime Minister Hun Sen	5–17 May 2023	37	584	11	6210	Vietnam (VIE)
33	2025	Bangkok, Chonburi, and Songkhla, Thailand	King Vajiralongkorn (expected)	9–20 December 2025	Future event
34	2027	Malaysia^[3]	Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim	14-26 July 2027	Future event
35	2029	Singapore^[4]	Minister Tan-Chuan Jin	8-22 August 2029
36	2031	Laos^[5]	Future event
37	2033	Philippines^[5]	Future event

1. The 2019 Southeast Asian Games was officially decentralized. Events were held in various cities around the Philippines, mostly in the Clark City, the Metro Manila region, and the Subic Bay areas, however there was no single designated host city. The games were known as "Philippines 2019".
2. Many events were held in various cities over the country to give support to the Hanoi, who was the main host of the event. Due the COVID-19 pandemic, the games were delayed to May 2022.

The 1963 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games were canceled. As the designated host, Cambodia was not able to host the event due to instability in the country, along with a disagreement with the International Amateur Athletic Federation. The 3rd SEAP Games then passed to Laos as hosts, but they begged off the 1965 event citing financial difficulties.^[6]

Sports

Main article: SEA Games sports

According to the SEAGF Charter and Rules, a host nation must stage a minimum of 22 sports: the two compulsory sports from Category 1 (athletics and aquatics), in addition to a minimum of 14 sports from Category 2 (Olympics and Asian Games mandatory sports), and a maximum of 8 sports from Category 3. Each sport shall not offer more than 5% of the total medal tally, except for athletics, aquatics and shooting (the shot was elevated for this category in 2013). For each sport and event to be included, a minimum of four countries must participate in it. Sports competed in the Olympic Games and Asian Games must be given priority.^[2][7]

In 2023, the charter was modified, bringing the number of minimum sports a host must stage up to 36. The compulsory Category 1 now comprises two subcategories: 1A, which consists of aquatics and athletics, and 1B, a minimum of 10 Olympic sports from the Summer Olympic Games. Under Category 2, the host must include a minimum of 10 other sports from the Olympic Games (summer/winter), Asian Games, and Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games. Category 3 is now capped at a maximum of four sports.^[8][9] The first games with the new charter in effect will be held in 2025.^[10]

List of SEA Games sports

Category 1		Category 2		Category 3
1A	1B	Olympic sports	Asian Games / AIMAG sports	Traditional^[a]	Other^[b]
Athletics	Archery 1977–1997, 2001–2021		Billiards and snooker Since 1987	Arnis 1991, 2005, 2019, 2023	Aquathlon 2023
Diving Since 1965	Badminton		Bodybuilding 1987–1993, 1997, 2003–2007, 2013, 2021	Bokator 2023	Beach handball 2019–2021
Synchronized swimming 2001, 2011, 2015–2017	Baseball 2005–2007, 2011, 2019		Bowling 1977–1979, 1983–2001, 2005–2007, 2011, 2015–2021	Chinlone 2013	Contract bridge 2011
Swimming	Basketball 1979–2003, 2007, since 2011		Chess 2003–2005, 2011–2013, since 2019	Muay Thai 2005–2009, 2013, 2019–2021	Duathlon Since 2019
Water polo 1965–2019, 2023	Boxing		Cricket 2017, 2023	Traditional boat race 1993, 1997–1999, 2003–2007, 2011–2015, 2023	Lawn bowls 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2017–2019
	Canoeing 1985, 1995, 2001, 2005–2007, 2011–2015, 2019–2021		Dancesport 2005–2009, since 2019	Kenpō 2011–2013	Obstacle racing 2019, 2023
	Cycling 1959–1979, since 1983		Esports Since 2019	Kun Khmer 2023	Polo 2007, 2017–2019
	Equestrian 1983, 1995, 2001, 2005–2007, 2011–2017		Finswimming 2003, 2009–2011, since 2021		Waterskiing 1987, 1997, 2011, 2015–2019
	Fencing 2003–2007, 2011, since 2015		Floorball 2015, 2019, 2023
	Field hockey 1971–1979, 1983, 1987–1989, 1993–2001, 2007, 2013–2017, 2023		Futsal 2007, 2011–2013, 2017, 2021
	Football		Indoor hockey 2017–2019, 2023
	Golf 1985–1997, 2001, since 2005		Ju-jitsu Since 2019
	Gymnastics 1979–1981, 1985–1997, 2001–2007, 2011, since 2015		Kickboxing Since 2019
	Handball 2005–2007, 2021		Kurash 2019–2021
	Judo 1967–1997, since 2001		Netball 2001, 2015–2019
	Karate 1985–1991, 1995–1997, 2001–2013, since 2017		Paragliding 2011
	Modern pentathlon 2019		Pencak silat 1987–1989, 1993–1997, since 2001
	Rowing 1989–1991, 1997, 2001–2007, 2011–2015, since 2019		Pétanque Since 2001
	Rugby sevens 2015–2019		Roller sports 2011
	Sailing 1961, 1967–1971, 1975–1977, 1983–1997, 2001, 2005–2007, 2011–2019, 2023		Rugby union 1969, 1977–1979, 1995, 2007
	Shooting 1959–2021		Sambo 2019
	Skateboarding 2019		Sepak takraw 1967–1969, since 1973
	Softball 1981–1983, 1989, 2003–2005, 2011, 2015, 2019		Shuttle cock 2007–2009
	Sport climbing 2011		Soft tennis 2011, 2019, 2023
	Surfing 2019		Squash 1991–2001, 2005–2007, 2015–2019
	Table tennis		Vovinam 2011–2013, since 2021
	Taekwondo Since 1985		Wushu 1991–1993, 1997, since 2001
	Tennis 1959–2011, since 2015		Xiangqi Since 2021
	Triathlon 2005–2007, since 2015
	Volleyball 1959–1997, since 2001
	Weightlifting 1959–1997, 2001–2013, since 2017
	Wrestling 1987, 1997, 2003–2013, since 2019
		Figure skating 2017–2019
		Ice hockey 2017–2019
		Short track speed skating 2017–2019

1. Traditional or regional sports that are not part of Asian Games nor Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games.
2. Sports that previously appeared in some SEA Games editions but are not an Olympic, Asian Games, nor Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games sport.

All-time medal table

Corrected after balancing the data of the Olympic Council of Asia and other archived sites which had kept the previous Southeast Asian Games medal tables. Some information from the aforementioned sites are missing, incorrect and or not updated.^{[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]}

All-time Southeast Asian Games medal table

Rank	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Thailand (THA)	2453	2127	2204	6784
2	Indonesia (INA)	1980	1876	1970	5826
3	Malaysia (MAS)^[1]	1376	1363	1872	4611
4	Vietnam (VIE)^[2]	1269	1097	1221	3587
5	Philippines (PHI)	1180	1346	1702	4228
6	Singapore (SGP)	1045	1090	1500	3635
7	Myanmar (MYA)^[3]	594	784	1095	2473
8	Cambodia (CAM)^[4]	159	202	425	786
9	Laos (LAO)	77	122	412	611
10	Brunei (BRU)	17	57	170	244
11	East Timor (TLS)	3	9	39	51
Totals (11 entries)		10153	10073	12610	32836

• ^[1] Competed as Malaya in the inaugural games until 1961.
• ^[2] The Republic of Vietnam was dissolved in July 1976 when it merged with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to become the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, also known as Vietnam. In the 1989 edition, a unified Vietnam rejoined the games with a new name and flag. Medals won by South Vietnam until 1975 and by Vietnam after 1989 are combined here.
• ^[3] Competed as Burma until 1987.
• ^[4] Competed as Kampuchea, and Khmer Republic.

List of multiple Southeast Asian Games medalists

Main article: List of multiple Southeast Asian Games medalists

Various individuals have won multiple medals at the Games, including the preceding Southeast Asian Peninsular Games.

As of 2019, Singaporean swimmer Joscelin Yeo has won the most Southeast Asian Games medals with 55 (40 gold, 12 silver, 3 bronze). She reached this milestone during the 2005 Games, overtaking the previous record of 39 gold medals set by another Singaporean swimmer Patricia Chan.

Criticism

One unique characteristic of the event is that there are no official limits to the number of sports and events to be contested, and the range can be decided by the organizing host pending approval by the Southeast Asian Games Federation. Aside from mandatory sports, the host is free to drop or introduce other sports or events (See SEA Games sports).^[18] This leeway has resulted in hosts maximizing their medal hauls by dropping sports disadvantageous to themselves relative to their peers and the introduction of obscure sports, often at short notice, thus preventing most other nations from building credible opponents.^[19][20][21] Several nations have called for amending the charter of the games to address the issue.^[22][23] In 2023, the SEA Games charter was modified in an effort to make the number of sports in each edition more standardized, reducing the host's leeway to remove several sports, maximize medal hauls by introducing obscure local sports, and tamper with the competition's rules.^[8][24]

See also

Events of the OCA (Continental) Asian Games Asian Winter Games Asian Youth Games Asian Beach Games Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games

Events of the OCA (Subregional) Central Asian Games East Asian Games (now East Asian Youth Games) South Asian Games West Asian Games

Events of the APC (Continental) Asian Para Games Asian Youth Para Games

Events of the APC (Subregional) ASEAN Para Games

References

1. Games page of the website of the Olympic Council of Asia; 2010-12-11 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2010-07-09.
2. "South East Asian Games Federation: Charter and Rules" (PDF). SEAGF. 30 May 2010. (PDF) from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
3. "Malaysia to host 2027 SEA Games". The Star. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
4. "Singapore to host 2029 SEA Games". Retrieved 12 May 2022.
5. Cua, Aric John Sy (13 July 2022). "PH to host SEA Games in 2033". The Manila Times. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
6. . www.olympic.org.my. Archived from the original on 17 December 2004. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
7. Ian De Cotta (5 June 2015). . Today Online. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
8. Lee, David (17 May 2023). "SEA Games sports programme to be standardised from 2025 to 2029". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
9. "ยกเครื่องซีเกมส์! เลิกเน้นกีฬาพื้นบ้าน-เริ่มที่ไทยหนหน้า" [Overhaul the SEA Games! Stop focusing on local sports – start in Thailand next]. Naewna (in Thai). 5 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
10. Navarro, June (17 May 2023). "Bambol assurance: Drastic reduction of indigenous games in next SEA Games calendar". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
11. . Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
12. SEAP Games Federation 13 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
18. Pattharapong Rattanasevee (21 July 2017). "Southeast Asian Games yet to win gold for sporting spirit". South China Morning Post. from the original on 4 August 2017.
19. Mariadass, Tony (24 November 2019). "Sea Games morphing into a monster-cum-circus". New Straits Times. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
20. Mariadass, Tony. "Sea Games reduced to a carnival". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
21. "The SEA Games Contain the Seeds of Their Own Irrelevance". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
22. "Indonesian NOC calls for amendment to Southeast Asian Games Federation Charter on sports programme". Inside the Games. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
23. ""พลตรีจารึก" เตรียมเสนอปรับธรรมนูญสหพันธ์กีฬาซีเกมส์". Thai PBS (in Thai). 13 March 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
24. Henson, Joaquin. "Bambol reveals new SEA Games order". Philstar.com. Retrieved 19 May 2023.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southeast Asian Games.

• Olympic Council of Asia Regional Hosting List
• SEA Games Federation
• (archived 11 January 1998)
• (archived 11 October 2008)
• (archived 17 December 2004)
• (archived 4 December 2009)
• (archived 7 December 2001)