KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — The Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPM) welcomes the decision by the Asean Para Sports Federation (APSF) to hold a Board of Governors (BoG) meeting to confirm the cancellation of the 2020 Asean Para Games (APG) in the Philippines.
The country was supposed to host the biennial event in January after the South-east Asian (SEA) Games last December.
However, it was delayed several times to May or June before the decision to call it off was made due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
MPM president, Datuk Seri Megat D. Shariman Zaharudin, said he hopes that an official decision will be reached on whether the event is completely cancelled to focus on the 2021 APG in Vietnam or it will be hosted by a new country.
“Although we’re disappointed with the announcement, we respect and understand host country, the Philippines, decision to cancel and channel the funding to fighting the spread of Covid-19.
“The decision from the meeting will have a deep effect on preparations by the national athletes. In fact, this was acknowledged by Paralympic champions, Mohamad Ridzuan Puzi and Abdul Latif Romly, who visited us last week,” he said in an MPM statement today.
Earlier today, APSF issued a statement that an emergency BoG meeting would be held to discuss, confirm and ratify the cancellation of the 10th APG to focus on the 11th APG scheduled to take place in Vietnam. — Bernama
