The Southeast Asian Games will be returning to Malaysia.
The Malaysian government formally accepted the Southeast Asian Games Federation’s offer to host the 34th edition of the biennial meet in 2027.
In a statement last week, the Youth and Sports Ministry said the decision was formally approved by the Cabinet in a meeting last week after Sarawak, Sabah and Penang agreed to use their respective budgets to co-host the prestigious multi-sport conclave together with Kuala Lumpur.
The hosting rights were actually awarded to Malaysia in May 2022 after Brunei made a withdrawal.
But the Malaysian government couldn’t come with a formal commitment with Youth and Sports Minister chief Hannah Yeoh saying that they are still waiting for the feedback from the Finance and Economic ministries, who will then make a proposal to the Cabinet.
The last time the Malaysians hosted the event was in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur.
It was a massive success with 4,646 athletes from 11 countries vying for medals in 404 events of 38 sports.
The Malaysians ruled the event with 145 gold, 92 silver and 86 bronze medals while the Thais and the Vietnamese finished second and third with 72 and 59 gold medals, respectively.
The Filipinos emerged sixth with 23 gold, 33 silver and 63 gold medals. They, however, eventually bagged the overall crown when they hosted the following edition of the Games in 2019.
Prior to 2017, Malaysia also hosted the Games in 1965, 1971, 1977, and 1989.