KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will send a 1,688-strong contingent, including 1,166 athletes, to the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand, making it the country's biggest-ever representation at the biennial Games, says Adam Adli Abd Halim (pic).
The Deputy Youth and Sports Minister added that 50 sports, involving 573 events, will be contested at the 33rd edition of the Games, to be held in Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla from Dec 9-20, with Malaysia competing in 458 events.
"The national contingent to the 2025 Thailand SEA Games will be bigger than the 641-strong contingent sent to the 2015 Singapore SEA Games,” he said when replying to a question from Datuk Shamshulkahar Mohd Deli (BN-Jempol), who asked about Malaysia's preparations, including the total number of athletes and coaches, as well as the medal target and success indicator, during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Nov 13).
Adam Adli said the selection of athletes was conducted by a committee chaired by Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria, based on the top three rankings in Southeast Asia (Category A) and top six rankings in Southeast Asia (Category B).
He added that the national contingent began preparations early this year, while the overall medal target was still being scrutinised and will be finalised on Nov 29.
For the 2025 Asean Para Games from Jan 20-26, 2026, Malaysia will send 238 athletes and 120 officials, thus making it the country's biggest-ever participation as well.
Replying to a supplementary question from Shamshulkahar on the involvement of Road to Gold (RTG) Programme athletes in the 2025 SEA Games, Adam Adli said 12 RTG athletes will compete in Thailand in badminton, weightlifting and archery as part of their preparation and exposure to international competitions.
Meanwhile, in reply to a supplementary question from Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden (PN-Alor Setar) regarding allegations that national sport climbing ace Mohd Izzat Mohd Shokor had to fund his own training and participation costs for the SEA Games, Adam Adli said the athlete was under category C (athletes do not receive initial government allocations).
He added that only athletes under categories A and B are funded by the National Sports Council (NSC), while those in Category C are only allowed to compete but must bear the costs themselves.- Bernama
