Thursday, October 1, 2009

New hosts for 2013 SEA Games?

Delays in construction of Singapore's $1.3 billion Sports Hub may cost the city-state its hosting rights for the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, said the republic's Sports Minister, Vivian Balakrishnan.

Revealing that work on the project could be further delayed, the Minister added: "Frankly, I think it's unlikely that it will be ready for the 2013 SEA Games.

"We will not be rushed into this, and I'm quite prepared to postpone our offer to host the SEA Games to a later date," he told reporters in Singapore Thursday.

"The key point is, we want to make sure that when we... put an offer on the table, it is a good offer, and something that we can deliver."

The Singapore Sports Hub Consortium won the contract to build and operate the Sports Hub on a 25-year lease. It includes a 55,000-capacity National Stadium with a retractable roof and 41,000 sqm of business, commercial and retail floor space.

The project has been repeatedly delayed due to high construction costs and the global economic downturn. Construction is now expected to begin early next year and will take four years to complete.

The 25th staging of the Southeast Asian Games takes place later this year in Vientiane, Laos, from Dec. 9-18.

The 11 competing nations are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, hosts Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam.

Indonesia are due to stage the 2011 Games in Bandung and Semarang with Singapore due to host the 27th Games.

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