Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said that after email correspondence and phone calls with Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) officials, the country will stage the Southeast Asian Plus Youth Games in late 2027 and the Asian Beach Games (ABG) in early 2028.
The POC had announced the creation of the SEA Plus Youth Games and the Philippine hosting last Thursday.
“The Asian Beach Games will have its third edition this April in Sanya (China) so it will be two years after when we host the games in 2028,” Tolentino said on Saturday, adding that the two hostings run in consonance with the Philippine Sports Commission’s (PSC) – through its chairman, Patrick “Patò” Gregorio – intensified sports tourism campaign.
“We will submit both letters (of intent) to the OCA before its General Assembly later this month in Tashkent. It’s a mere formality. After getting the official approval from the OCA, we’ll immediately be proposing to the PSC on hosting both events.”
Tashkent is hosting the important OCA activity that will also tackle Uzbekistan’s hosting of the 2029 AYG.
The POC and PSC are on the same page on the sports tourism campaign, with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. setting into motion last year the multi-pronged National Sports Tourism Inter-Agency Committee (NST-IAC) headed by Gregorio.
“These coming international events fit well with the goal of the NST-IAC, we at the POC are remaining proactive on these efforts,” said Tolentino, also the president of the national federation for cycling.
PhilCycling will hold the Asian Cycling Confederation Track Championships in March at the brand-new and International Cycling Union-standard Tagaytay CT Velodrome.
Tolentino said expectations are high for Filipino athletes’ participation at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics on Feb 6-22 and the ABG on April 22-30 in Sanya, China.
Also on the POC calendar are the Asian Games in Nagoya on Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 and the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Nov. 28 to Dec. 7.
The SEA Plus YG are designed for athletes aged 17 and under who will compete in two mandatory sports, a maximum of 12 Olympic sports, a maximum of five Asian non-Olympic sport,s and one traditional sport with up to six medal events.
Tolentino is the founding president of the SEA Plus YG, which counts as members Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Timor Leste. The “Plus” refers to at least one invited Asian NOC in other Asian sub-regions for each edition of the Games for the purpose of providing added competition for the region’s grassroots. (PNA)