KUALA LUMPUR: The Asean Para Sports Federation (APSF) Board of Governors (BoG) voted in favour of Indonesia to host the 11th Asean Para Games (APG), after the initial host Vietnam decided to call off the Games last year citing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Indonesia has proposed that the APG be held in Solo (Surakarta) from July 20-31 this year, offering 13 sports at various venues around the Central Java city, where the 6th edition of APG was staged in 2011.
However, APSF stated that the approval is conditional and subject to Indonesia being cleared of the current sanction imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) due to ‘non-conformities’ in implementing an effective testing programme.
According to APSF, in an emergency meeting convened virtually yesterday attended by eight countries including Malaysia, the majority of the presidents of the respective National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) deliberated on Indonesia’s bid to be the alternative host.
Indonesia were given the nod to stage the Games after six members voted in favour, while one country was against. Singapore and Brunei were absent while Indonesia, as an interested party, was excluded from the voting process.
APSF president Major General Osoth Bhavilai said that though the issue of government commitment, support and funding have been settled, Indonesia now have one month until Feb 15 to convince Wada to lift the sanction.
“The BoG will convene a special meeting on Feb 17 to deliberate and ensure that all requirements, including strict Covid-19 procedures, are met before officially announcing Indonesia as host of the 11th APG,” he said in a statement.
-Bernama
