KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) are unhappy that hosts, the Philippines, have set a new date for the Asean Para Games (APG) without going through the proper procedures.
MPC president Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin claimed that the latest date for the games, May 26-June 2, was set by the Philippines Paralympic Committee without the approval of the Asean Para Sports Federation (APSF).
Shahriman alleged that APSF have rejected the date but whether Philippines will stand firm on their decision remains unclear.
“Through the information channeled to us by ASPF, Philippines Paralympic Committee president Michael Barredo had made a ‘unilateral’ decision to go ahead with the games on May 26-June 2,” said Shahriman.
“This (new date) was noticed after Philippines named their flag bearer (for the competition) last week.
“Michael had then tried to contact a number of competing nations including MPC to agree with the date. He, however, did not reveal the number of nations he had contacted.
“APSF unanimously rejected the proposal (date) because they believe all decisions must be made by APSF via a council members meeting.
“APSF have also informed us that they are unhappy with the decision made by Manila as they had failed to submit the necessary guidelines to APSF and did not confirm any preventative measures to combat Covid-19.”
Shahriman added that it was unfair of the Philippines to have made the decision without going through an official APSF meeting first.
He stressed that only APSF, as the governing body for para sports in the region, should have the authority to make a decision on the matter.
Shahriman did not rule out the possibility of the games being held back and organised in another country until after the Tokyo Paralympics in September.
“We have heard that Thailand are interested in replacing Philippines as the host nation,” added Shahriman.
The Asean Para Games were initially scheduled for Jan 18-24 but rescheduled to March 20-28 due to financial and logistics issues. However, it was again postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.