Minister of Youth and Sports Hannah Yeoh.
KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has given her assurance that the 2027 SEA Games will go on as planned, with or without Sabah’s support.
Sabah had initially agreed to allocate RM100mil to co-manage a decentralised 2027 SEA Games but withdrew recently, citing a lack of suitable facilities in the state.
Hannah, speaking on the sidelines of the National Women in Sports seminar yesterday, said the federal government will continue with plans to host the SEA Games.
“We have been informed by Sabah that they will not be with us in organising the 2027 SEA Games,” she said.
“We will move forward together with Sarawak, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
“No other states have (declared interest) despite having sent many notices to them.
“I think these three states are enough. Don’t worry, nothing will be affected, even without Sabah.
“We will continue as planned.
“Now that Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) has been settled, we will look to prepare the master scheme for the SEA Games.
“We must begin now as the SEA Games is not too long from now.”
Sarawak has pledged roughly RM350mil for the games while Penang is allocating RM15mil. The two states will host a number of events alongside Kuala Lumpur.
Organising the SEA Games using a decentralised model reduces the burden on the federal government as the organising costs can be shared together with states as well as corporate sponsors.
The 2027 SEA Games is expected to cost roughly RM700mil to organise.
Malaysia last hosted the Sea Games in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur and the costs ran to an estimated RM608mil.
