2021 SEA Games
The 2021 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 31st Southeast Asian Games, 31st SEA Games or SEA Games 31, and also recognized as Viet Nam 2021, were the 31st edition of the Southeast Asian Games, the biennial regional multi-sport event which was held in Hanoi, Vietnam and its surrounding provinces from 12 to 23 May 2022.
Originally planned to take place from 21 November to 2 December 2021, it was eventually rescheduled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. Featuring 523 events in 40 different sports, the majority of these sports were in the Olympic program, contrary to what had happened
on the previous edition. This was the second time that Vietnam had hosted the games, having previously done so for the 2003 edition. The country had previously submitted a bid to host the 2018 Asian Games and won, but later withdrew due to financial constraints.
The host country Vietnam emerged in the medal tally as the overall champions for the first time in 19 years, recording 205 gold medals along with 125 silvers and 106 bronzes, accumulating 446 medals in total. They were followed by Thailand and Indonesia, with the Philippines and Singapore rounding out the top five.
Host selection
Bids
and Ho Chi Minh City both submitted bids to host the games. While Ho Chi Minh City was initially favoured, Hanoi is later deemed to be the more suitable location due to its existing sporting infrastructure. This came after the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng ordered provinces and cities to not build new sporting facilities as a cost-saving measure, following the country's withdrawal from hosting the 2018 Asian Games due to financial restraints.Hanoi
According to Hanoi's submitted proposal to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the city would spend 1.7 trillion VND on preparing and organizing the 2-week games running from late November to December. 97 billion VND is expected to be earned back from broadcast rights, advertisements, sponsors and other contributions.Ho Chi Minh City
In December 2017, Ho Chi Minh City Municipal Standing Committee of the Communist Party approved of the city's hosting proposal. According to the proposal, the direct cost for hosting the Games in the city is estimated to be 7.48 trillion VND with 6.6 trillion VND to be spent on upgrading sports facilities and 904 billion VND on organizing costs. However, another 8.2 trillion VND is needed for the construction of Rach Chiec National Sports Complex while an athletes' village will not be built. The Games would run for 12 days in mid-August and see 30-36 sports being contested. The provinces of Đồng Nai and Bình Dương would also host a portion of Games.Decision
In July 2018, Vietnam selected Hanoi as the host city for the 31st Southeast Asian Games and the 11th ASEAN Para Games. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc officially approved the decision in November 2019. SEA Games 31 would take place from November 21 to December 2, 2021, and the 11th ASEAN Para Games would take place in late December 2021. Vietnam Television and the Voice of Vietnam would broadcast live the Opening Ceremony, Closing Ceremony and the competition days.Postponement
SEA Games 31 was originally scheduled to be held from November 21 to December 2, 2021. However, on June 9, 2021, the Vietnam Olympic Committee proposed that the SEA Games 31 be held in July 2022 due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country. Myanmar and host Vietnam supported the proposal, while Laos was neutral, and Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor all opposed it. On June 24, during a virtual meeting of the Southeast Asian Games Federation, one of the proposals considered was to postpone the SEA Games 31 to April or May 2022.On the afternoon of July 8, during the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang confirmed that SEA Games 31 will be postponed to a more suitable time. This was also approved at the SEAGF virtual meeting with the Olympic Committees of the member countries held on the same day, and received the absolute support of the countries. In another development, the Government and the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam have agreed with the proposal of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Organizing Committee of SEA Games 31 to postpone the organization of SEA Games to the second quarter of 2022, but will not host the 11th ASEAN Para Games in Hanoi.
The final decision was made in early November 2021, stating that the rescheduled SEA Games 31 will be held from May 12 to 23, 2022.
Preparation
Vietnam's SEA Games Organizing Committee was formed in April 2020 with the function of preparing, submitting and executing plans to stage the Games.Budget
The proposed budget allocated by the Vietnamese government for this edition of SEA Games was initially estimated to be 1.6 trillion VND. 980.3 billion VND would be used for organizing costs while 602.3 billion VND would be allocated for upgrades and repairs to facilities managed by MCST. Provincial authorities are responsible for renovations to facilities under their management. Other than a new cycling track in Hòa Bình Province and a small tennis complex on Hanoi Sports Training and Competition Centre campus, no other sporting venue would be constructed for this edition.The organization revenue was expected to be 226.6 billion VND, with 136.6 billion VND coming from the delegates' accommodation fees and 65 billion VND from broadcast rights.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam's budget for the Games was cut. In January 2022, the Vietnamese government approved an organizing budget of 750 billion VND for the Games. On April 1, 2022, the Vietnamese government approved an additional budget of 449 billion VND for the Games. The money was taken from the national budget for sports and physical training in 2022. Four ministries and central agencies were provided 378.3 billion VND, while Hanoi and 11 other provinces received an additional 70.7 billion VND.
Venues
While Hanoi was the main hub, several other surrounding provinces assisted in hosting portions of the games. Athletes and officials were housed in hotels near their competition venues. In the initial plan, a new tennis complex was planned to be built on Hanoi Sports Training and Competition Centre campus and a supposedly-rebuilt Hàng Đẫy Stadium would host a group for men's football. Both of these projects faced development delays and difficulties and could no longer be completed in time for the games. Consequently, the tennis venue was relocated to a newly built private venue in Bắc Ninh Province, and Việt Trì Stadium hosted a men's football group alongside Thiên Trường Stadium during the group stage.Non-competition venues
Volunteers
The organizing committee planned to recruit around 3,000 volunteers for the Games with 2,000 of them based in Hanoi. In February 2022, SEAGOC started to work with local Hanoi colleges, mainly Hanoi University and Hanoi Open University to start the process. Applicants were required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Selected volunteers would receive orientation and training between March and April before being assigned to specific venues in April 2022.Torch relay
The torch relay was held 31 days prior to the opening ceremony, representing 31 editions of the Southeast Asian Games. The relay began at Hùng Temple in Phú Thọ Province on 11 April 2022, and went through all hosting provinces before arriving at the cauldron at Mỹ Đình National Stadium in Hanoi on 12 May.Ticketing
The SEAGOC encouraged each provincial organizing committee to allow spectators to enter competition venues for free. However, the decision to release and/or charge for tickets is ultimately dependent on each province. Hải Phòng and Quảng Ninh expressed interest in free entry for all spectators, with the latter being the largest cluster of venues outside of Hanoi. Meanwhile, Phú Thọ, the host for all of Vietnam's matches in men's football, has planned on selling tickets.Medals
The official medals of the 2021 SEA Games were designed by Nguyễn Văn Hùng, an artist from the Vietnam Animation Studio who also worked on the medals for the 2016 Asian Beach Games. One side of the medal features this edition's logo while the other features the mascot Saola in front of Vietnam's tourist sites and patterns.SEA Games 31 medals are cast in copper-zinc compounds, of which red copper accounts for about 85 percent. Each medal is five millimeters thick. The gold medal is coated with 24-karat gold plating. Silver medals are silver-plated and bronze medals are copper-plated. To increase durability, each medal is coated with three layers of plating inside and covered with an extra layer outside. The ribbon is made of woven fabric.
Marketing
Official branding
On 30 August 2019, Vietnam Olympic Committee launched a nationwide contest to find the official logo, mascot, slogan, and song for both 31st SEA Games and 2021 ASEAN Para Games. The contest ran until 30 October 2019. The top 3 in each category were intended to be featured on a ballot and Vietnamese nationals could then vote for the winning creation. On 20 October 2019, a mascot named after the canine character Vàng in Nam Cao's famous short story Lão Hạc was awarded People's Choice Award by the organizer. On 26 October 2019, the final top 3 mascots, selected by an internal panel, were announced. These mascots took inspirations from various Vietnamese animals: the endangered species saola, the mythical creature "con nghê", and tigers. The selected designs were met with a negative reception by the Vietnamese public. The organizers later withdrew the announcement, stating that the designs were preliminary and would undergo further adjustments. The reveal was then postponed to November 2019, and later indefinitely postponed.On 19 November 2020, the winning entries were announced. No theme song was selected from the contest, with the organizing committee commissioning composer Quang Vinh, who previously penned the theme song "For the World of Tomorrow" for the 22nd SEA Games in 2003, to write a new theme song for this edition.