25th SEA Games, Laos

Various Lao sporting committees and federations on Friday joined local media to view progress on the construction of the 20,000-seat 25th SEA Games stadium in Dongsanghin village, Xaythany district, Vientiane .

Construction of the game's main stadium is now 90 percent complete and the construction company expects to hand over the facility to the Lao government in September.

Minister to the Prime Minister's Office and President of the Lao National Sports Committee, Dr Phouthong Seng Akhom, told media the stadium would be finished soon and the construction company will furnish and clean it before handing it over.

“More than 10 different events will be held at the stadium, including indoor and outdoor sports. The stadium is the first international standard stadium in Laos and will also host the opening and closing ceremonies for the games,” he said.

He said rumours that construction of facilities for the games will not be ready in time are untrue, as the main stadium is now 90 percent complete and overall preparations for the games are 80 percent complete.



Other indoor and outdoor courts at Chao-anouvong stadium in Anou village, Chanthabouly district, the International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre, Beungkhayong stadium and facilities at the National University of Laos are also close to completion and are waiting to be fitted out with sports equipment.



Committees have been formed to oversee hospitality, transportation, travel arrangements and security during the games. They include representatives from the ministries of Public Works and Transport, Health, Public Security, and Information and Culture, the Lao National Tourism Administration and other organisations.

“We have received reports from each committee regarding their preparation efforts and some areas are close to completion while others need further work,” Dr Phouthong said.

The 25th SEA Games will take place from December 9 to 18, involving 390 events in the 25 sports of athletics, swimming, archery, badminton, snooker and billiards, muay, cycling, football, golf, judo, karatedo, sepak takraw, shooting, tennis, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, wrestling, weightlifting, boxing, pencak silat, petanque, fin swimming, diving and shuttlecock.

Athletes from Laos , Vietnam , Cambodia , Brunei , Thailand , Malaysia , Indonesia , Myanmar , the Philippines , Singapore and Timor Leste will take part.

By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
Vientianetimes

The national women's weightlifting team is training hard at facilities at Phonesavanh Secondary School as they eye a medal at the 25th SEA Games in December.

The team has been living in the school's dormitory since last month, and is being trained by Thai coaches. This will be the first time Laos has sent a women's team to the SEA Games, but the competitors are going all out to make a spectacular debut.

The best weightlifter in the 67kg category, Manylath Phommavongsa, 17, is keen to win a medal for Laos . She is a fifth-year student at Chanthabouly Secondary School .

But Ms Manylath is young and lacks experience at the national and international level.

This is the first time she and her teammates have undergone a rigorous training course, but they are determined to do their best. She said she enjoyed the training because she is taught by three expert coaches from Thailand , who teach her many useful basic techniques.

She began training just over a month ago, while her friends started training four months ago. She's not scared and doesn't suffer any injuries during training.

Ms Manylath said she and her friends had good food in the dormitory after training, with sessions held every day from Monday to Saturday.

Most youngsters don't like weight training because they say it does not give them a beautiful body, but Ms Manylath enjoys the training, saying it gives her a strong body and is good for her health.

At the eighth National Games in Champassak province last December, she won a silver medal in the women's team cycling event.

She represented Vientiane at events which helped her to prepare for the cycling race at the National Games.

But she didn't have her own bicycle or training equipment, so she stopped training with the cycling team.

She shifted her allegiance to weightlifting when one of her relatives, Mr Chanthone Phommavongsa, suggested the idea last month.

She said the move was a good choice because the Lao Weightlifting Federation has training equipment and good coaches, and she believes she can do better in this sport than in cycling at the SEA Games.

The federation is seeking more than 800 million kip to buy more equipment and pay for training and facilities.

Twenty male weightlifters, five substitutes and seven female weightlifters are now training at Phonesavanh Secondary School .

The federation will test the contestants' fitness and health before they compete at the games.

The LWF plans to send the team to train in Thailand from September to December and will select the best weightlifters to attend an international event in Chiang Mai. The team will also compete in the Weightlifting Championships in Si Sa Ket province in Thailand in July.

The team will resume training at the school after returning from Thailand . In October, they will return to Thailand when all Lao weightlifters will attend the Thai Championships.

Weightlifting events at the SEA Games will consist of eight categories for men - 56, 62, 69, 77, 85, 94, 105 and over 105 kg - and 48, 53, 58, 63, 69, 75, 77 and over 85 kg categories for women.

This year's 25th SEA Games will be the first in which weightlifting has been included.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

(KPL) Though many sports bodies are short of cash but they are determined to send as many athletes as they can to for training at the Sports Training Centre, Sikeuth village, Naxaithong district.

They are also scouting for other training facilities in Vientiane and the prospect of sending athletes to be trained in neighbouring countries and all such efforts on their part are to give the promising Lao athletes the best preparation to compete in the coming SEA Games at the end of the year.

These problems were brought out during a meeting held in the Prime Ministers Office on 30 ApriL and its main theme is to discuss and make decisions on the progress report of the work of the Lao SEA Games Organising Committee (LAOSOC) and the Lao National Sports Committee (LNSC).

The meeting was attended by Standing Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of LAOSOC, Mr Somsavat Lengsavad, LNSC President, Dr Phouthong Seng-akhom, heads of sports bodies and senior officials from LNSC.

During this meeting all the sports bodies that are training athletes to compete for the coming SEA Games submitted proposals on their funding needs to LNSC.

On this occasion, Mr Somsavat said he was focused on using seven billion kip budget to buy sports equipment, to give allowances to athletes, to pay money to athletes for taking part in practice sessions and for other reasonable obligations.

Currently, various sports bodies, such as tennis, golf, karatedo, judo, muay lao and taekwondo are being funded by companies and international organisations.

However, there are sports bodies that do not have any company sponsor and they are searching high and low for sponsors to get funding and two of them are national women?s football team and Lao Cycling Federation.

Referring to the good work of the sports bodies, Mr Somsavat said they are always on the lookout to give assistance to athletes who have problems with their education and family.

Taking this into consideration, he added that the sports bodies are bent on doing their level best to give the athletes top notch preparation for the SEA Games and hopefully to win medals for Laos.

Mr Somsavat also said that while the national sepak takraw squad is currently training in Savannakhet province but there is a plan to transfer its centralized training venue, from October onwards, to the indoor stadium of Lao-ITECC, Vientiane.

Federations struggle to reach starting blocks

Many Lao sports federations still lack adequate funding to purchase equipment and prepare athletes for the 25th SEA Games, which will take place in Vientiane from December 9-18.

Federations are facing financial difficulties with their preparations but are trying to send as many athletes as possible to train at the Sports Training Centre in Sikeuth village, Naxaithong district, and other training facilities in Vientiane as well as sending athletes to train in neighbouring countries in the lead-up to the games.

At the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday, the Lao SEA Games Organising Committee (LAOSOC) and the Lao National Sports Committee (LNSC) held a meeting to discus preparations for the games.

The meeting was attended by Standing Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of LAOSOC, Mr Somsavat Lengsavad, LNSC President, Dr Phouthong Seng-akhom, along with federation presidents and senior officials from LNSC.

At the meeting each federation submitted funding proposals to the LNSC for the purchase of sporting equipment, financing to support athletes and other games preparations.

The LNSC currently has a budget of 7 billion kip to use in preparing athletes in 25 sports for the games.

Currently the tennis, golf, karatedo, judo, muay lao and taekwondo federations are sponsored by various companies, including some international organisations.

There are still many federations looking for sponsors to support their teams, such as the national women's football team which lacks the funding to enable it to compete at an international level.

The Lao Cycling Federation is another body urgently seeking funding to help riders prepare for the games.

Mr Somsavat said the federations would like to help athletes when they have difficulties with their education and families.

He said the federations are doing their best to prepare athletes for the event and enable them to win medals.

The national sepak takraw squad is currently training in Savannakhet province but plans to move to train at the indoor stadium at Lao-ITECC in Vientiane in October.

The sepak takraw federation will host the SEA Games' sepak takraw event at Lao-ITECC and has a medical team preparing alongside the national team.

On Sunday officials from LAOSOC and LNSC also visited athletes' accommodation facilities and the Sports Training Centre.

The 25th SEA Games will consist of events in athletics, swimming, diving, water polo, archery, badminton, billiards and snooker, boxing, cycling, football, golf, judo, karatedo, sepak takraw, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, wushu, muay, pencak silat, petanque, fin swimming and shuttlecock.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

ORGANIZERS of the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos, which will be hosting the games for the first time, said they need at least two more months to complete the construction of the venues and other facilities.

This was according to Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the 25th SEA Games Organizing Committee Somsavat Lengsavad and senior LNSC officials following an ocular inspection they conducted on the main stadium, the golf course, the main access roads and the Athletes’ Village.

Work was supposed to be finished by March, but according to the Games’ official Web site, the Chinese and Korean companies involved in the construction work are having a difficult time completing the job at the main venue in the Saythany district.

The foreign contractors said the delay was caused by several factors, one of which is the dry summer season, which is not suitable for growing grass inside the football stadium. The grass will only be planted in June, which is the start of the rainy season.

Also, the land around the golf course have yet to be cleared because “some people have yet to leave their homes to make way for the construction.”

Lao Golf Federation president Songkham Silaphets said the course would be completed in May, “as long as plans don’t change.”

Meanwhile, the access road is reportedly 75 percent complete and will be landscaped by May, while engineers from the two companies said it is also difficult to dig drainage channels and install electricity around the main stadium and other venues, prompting Somsavat to ask the Ministry of Public Works and Transport committee to cooperate with the contractors regarding these problems.

More than 400 Lao workers are involved in the construction at a cost of more than $100 million.

A ceremony to hand over the stadium to the Lao government will take place in September.

The 25 events of the 2009 SEA Games to be held in Vientiane in December will be scattered around the eight stadiums. Peter Atencio

www.manilastandardtoday.com

Grass is to be planted in the main football stadium to be used in the 25th SEA Games in December, along with the installation of an electronic scoreboard and seating.

This work is scheduled for the end of June, by which time there should be enough rain to make the grass grow quickly and abundantly.

The Lao National Sports Committee (LNSC) will carry out an inspection of the stadium, located at Km 16, after the grass, scoreboard and seating are in place.

The Industrial Park Overseas Investment Co Ltd and the China Yunnan Construction Engineering Group Corporation have decided not to plant any grass yet because of the difficulty of growing a healthy pitch in the dry season.

The corporation has now finished 95 percent of the stadium, with more than 1,045 Chinese workers and more than 400 Lao workers involved in the construction process at a cost of more than US$100 million. A ceremony to hand over the stadium to the Lao government will take place in September.

Ahead of the games, the LNSC will hold competitions to test out the venues and athletes.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the 25th SEA Games Organising Committee, Mr Somsavat Lengsavad, and senior LNSC officials on Friday inspected the progress made on the stadium, golf course, main access road and athletes' accommodation.

The access road is 75 percent complete and will be landscaped in May.

Engineers from the two companies are finding it difficult to dig drainage channels and install electricity around the main stadium and other venues.

Mr Somsavat suggested a Ministry of Public Works and Transport committee should cooperate in these areas of work.

He said water and electricity installation would have to be finished next month in order for the remaining work to continue smoothly.

At present 19 officials are managing the construction of the main football stadium, two indoor stadiums, swimming pool, shooting field, tennis courts and beach volleyball site.

Mr Somsavat said the LNSC should assign more than this number of officials because 19 people were not enough to ensure security.

The LNSC will hold friendly football matches with teams from neighbouring countries ahead of the games to help improve the national team and test out the stadium.

The committee will hold a Pre-SEA Games to test the various venues and teams before the actual games begin in December.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

The 2009 Southeast Asian Games Village Project, which is under construction in the Lao capital of Vientiane, is now 45% completed.

Work on the 25th SEA Games athletes’ village, which is being built by Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint-Stock Company (HAGL), began on August 1, using almost 700 workers, 95% of whom are from Vietnam.

HAGL is sponsoring the US$19 million 25th SEA Games Village Project with $4 million in nonrefundable aid and an interest free loan of $15 million, which will be repaid within three years.



The project, which will be handed over to Laos’ National University after the sports event, will have 992 rooms in eight four-story blocks, a 1,200-seat dining room, a central hall and functional rooms. The site will also have football fields and basketball facilities.

The athletes' village is on a 42,000sqm site at the Dongdok campus, National University of Laos. The village comprises 10 buildings and other auxiliary facilities. Eight four-storey buildings with international standard facilities will contain 1,000 rooms and accommodate 4,000 athletes. A single-storey building will house a canteen and a three-storey building will contain multi-purpose management offices.