The XXXI South-East Asian Games will be held from May12-23 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Although it was due to be held last year, it was postponed to this year due to the pandemic.
The South-East Asian Games commonly known as the SEA Games will feature 40 sports events, mainly those played at the Olympic Games. . It is held every two years involving 11 countries in South-East Asia competing in a range of sports. The South-East Asian Games was originally started as the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games. The name was changed following the inclusion of Brunei, the Philippines and Indonesia in 1977.
The first SEA Games was held in Bangkok in 1959, comprising over 527 athletes and officials in 12 sports. The countries that participated were Thailand, Burma, Malaya (now Malaysia), Singapore, South Vietnam and Laos.
This year the participating countries are Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Timor-Leste.