25th SEA Games, Laos

The Lao Medical Anti-Doping Commission has drafted a manual for drug testing procedures to be used at the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane this year.

Chairman of the commission, Dr Alongkone Phengsavanh said so far the commission is still waiting for funds to publish more than 1,000 manuals to be distributed to countries participating in the games. These include the list of substances that are banned at the competition.

“We also need funds to train about 80 doctors and nurses who will take part in training courses to learn about doping. So far, medical staff have not undertaken any courses,” said Dr Alongkone, who is also a member of the National Olympic Committee of Laos.

He said the work was very important to ensure a fair competition.

All tests will be sent to be analysed in China at a cost of about 3.6 million kip (300 euro) apiece. This money will come from the government budget.

The commission will focus on testing in some sports before the games including muay, boxing and other similar sports.

All tests will be conducted under the SEA Games Federation's guidelines.

The commission will also test all athletes who win gold medals at the games. This is a rule of the federation. The commission will also randomly choose athletes for testing.

If the athlete tests positive, they will have to return any medals they have won and will be disqualified from competition for two years.

Dr Alongkone and his colleagues have already delivered this message, including the list of banned substances to Lao athletes.

Two doctors from Laos , one from Thailand and one from Vietnam will supervise the testing procedures to ensure fairness.

However, Dr Alongkone said the biggest challenge for the anti-doping teams were their lack of previous experience. This will be the first time they will have operated in competition. For this reason, Dr Alongkone said they need to take training on drug testing as soon as possible.


Vientianetimes

The Lao National Sports Committee (LNSC) has accomplished the goals set for the previous three months of preparation for the 25 th SEA Games to be held in Vientiane next year.

At the Prime Minister's Office on Friday, the national sports committee held a meeting to summarise its work and plan its tasks for September to December.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the 25 th SEA Games Organising Committee Somsavat Lengsavad and senior officials attended the meeting.

Mr Somsavat said Laos had been given a great honour in hosting the SEA Games. The event would serve to strengthen the country and boost solidarity.

He suggested the committee should set out clear plans for assistance and cooperation with other countries.

From September to December, the sports committee will cooperate with Singapore to prepare for the event.

The Vietnamese government will assist with the installation of IT systems and electronic equipment in the new football stadium and the indoor stadiums to be used in the games.

The national sports committee will hold a Miss SEA Games beauty pageant and will build a digital clock in Vientiane to mark the countdown to the games. The time will run from December 31 this year until the opening ceremony of the games in December 2009. The clock is to be sponsored by the Lao Brewery Company.

The Thai Tourism and Sports Ministry will spend about 21.3 billion kip (84 million baht) to renovate the national football stadium, tennis courts and the sports department's indoor stadium.

The ministry will also pay about 1.5 billion kip (6 million baht) towards the training of LNSC officials, as well as referees and athletes.

The committee will also receive assistance through cooperation with doping control staff from Vietnam and Thailand .

At the end of this year, the committee will open the sports training centre and athletes' accommodation in Vientiane , to be built with assistance from the Vietnamese government.

The Lao football, judo, karatedo, wushu, wrestling, pencak silat, swimming and diving teams are currently training in Vietnam .

Also in the past three months, committee officials improved their skills at the Lao-Singapore Cooperation Centre in June and planted 500 trees around the new football stadium.

In May, the committee held discussions on work plans for the games including accommodation, food, decoration of the city, tourism, traffic, telecommunications and other work.

The committee asked the Olympic Committee of Asia and the competition organising committee of the SEA Games to assist in running the games.

Athletes' accommodation is under construction at the National University of Laos, assisted by the Vietnamese government.

Last July, the committee visited Incheon district in the Republic of Korea , where district officials provided them with sports equipment worth more than 3.5 billion kip (US$405,000).

When Lao government officials attended the Olympic Games in China last month, they signed an agreement for SEA Games cooperation with the Chinese government in Beijing . The Lao wushu and shuttlecock teams will attend training in China ahead of the games.

Singapore helped with tourism promotion for the games last month. This month it will work on business communication for the games and next month plans to assist with hospitality management.

The new football stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies of the games will take place is 65-80 percent complete, the indoor stadium is 90 percent complete, the petanque field is 80 percent complete and the taekwondo court is 95 percent complete.

The new football stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies of the games will take place is 65-80 percent complete, the indoor stadium is 90 percent complete, the petanque field is 80 percent complete and the taekwondo court is 95 percent complete

POC lobbies for more SEAG events
By NICK GIONGCO



The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) is pushing for the inclusion of basketball and a few other sports in the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos.


POC president Jose "Peping" Cojuangco Jr. is currently in Vientiane, Laos to lobby for sports where the Philippines is considered strong, according to POC spokesman Joey Romasanta.

Cojuangco is accompanied by secretary-general Steve Hontiveros, treasurer Julian Camacho, legal counsel Ding Tanjuatco and athletics chief Go Teng Kok, designated as head of the sports and rules committee for the Laos Games. Also with the group is Dr. Martin Camara, head of the medical committee.

Aside from basketball, the POC is eyeing the inclusion of billiards, fencing, cycling, dancesport and chess.

The 25th SEA Games is slated Dec. 13-21 next year with only 22 sports on tap.

Owing to the lack of facilities in Laos, a landlocked country in Indo-China bordered by Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma and China, the host said they could only organize a limited number of sports.

Forty-three events were staged last year in Thailand, nearly the same number held in Manila in 2005.

"Some of our neighbors in the SEAG are going to help us in our bid to have basketball in 2009," said a member of the POC party to Laos yesterday in an overseas call.

"We told them that when the Philippines hosted the SEAG in 2005, basketball was not played owing to the suspension (by the FIBA)."

The Philippines retained the basketball crown, but finished sixth overall last year in Thailand.

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/SPRT20080424122709.html

The Lao National Sports Committee will renovate the national football stadium in Vientiane between April and July in preparation for use during the 25 th SEA Games next year.

The Lao Football Federation will hold the Group A football matches here as well as track and field events. It will increase the seating to accommodate about 10,000 spectators.

The federation is organising various annual football events, but they will take place in the football stadium at the National University of Laos and the federation's field.

The federation manages the football stadium, which is currently in poor condition and dirty due to the behaviour of some spectators and the untidy surroundings.



Spectators are in the habit of throwing litter on the ground after eating fruit and snacks; consequently the grounds are not fit for international use.

The committee renovated the stadium in 2000 for the 6 th National Games. It was built in the 1930s, and has been the capital's major venue for football and other matches.

National athletics teams, sports officials and local residents jog on a synthetic track there in the evenings.

The federation's organising committee will introduce more protective measures after the renovation of the stadium next year. Some athletes and the federation's referees still use rooms there on a regular basis.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes