The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) slashed the initial 627-athlete delegation for the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Hanoi, Vietnam this May to 584.
The updated number of athletes vying in the biennial meet was announced on Thursday, January 20, 2022, after a meeting with the country’s top sports bodies headed by POC President,President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Chef de Mission and PSC commissioner Ramon Fernandez .
Also joining the meeting on Thursday were Deputy chiefs of mission Pearl Managuelod and Carl Sambrano also joined the virtual meeting.
Also included are 161 officials that will make up the entire delegation of the Philippines that topped the medal tally in the 2019 edition of SEA Games in the country.
“We understand the situation because of the budgetary constraint in the PSC, so we have to employ belt tightening measures as regards to officials and equipment,” Tolentino said.
The POC has initially set a 627-athlete delegation to the SEA Games that open on May 12 and end on May 25.
Tolentino said that 80 athletes from various national sports associations (NSAs) are on appeal for the delegation as falling under the Group B category.
It means that their NSAs will shoulder their expenses during the Games.
The PSC has yet to determine the exact budget for the Games participation, although Fernandez already announced earlier that it’s in the vicinity of P200 million.
Filipino athletes will still be competing in all but one—xiangqi or Chinese chess—of the 40 sports in the Hanoi program.
/bmjo
READ MORE: All set for Southeast Asian Games in May