SEAG eyes merger with Paragames

MANILA, Philippines – Differently-abled athletes may share the spotlight with their abled counterparts in Southeast Asia’s premier competition next year if host Malaysia’s proposal to stage the 2017 Asean Para Games and the regular SEA Games simultaneously gets the greenlight.

The Paralympic Council of Malaysia had put forward the idea of merging the APG with the SEAG to member National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) in a recent meeting, saying it will expose the para athletes to a wider base of spectators and media.

The APG is traditionally held two weeks or more after the staging of the SEA Games.

The Philippines Sports Association for the Differently-abled-Philippine Paralympic Committee is currently consulting with para athletes, coaches and stakeholders before coming up with a position to be submitted to the Asean Para Sports Federation.

Philspada’s president Mike Barredo, however, is cold to the idea, having seen the pros and cons of a combined staging on a national level in recent years.

“I’m personally not inclined to agree to a joint event because of logistical issues. We usually take up five to six days every tournament but when combined with the SEA Games, this will stretch to 10-12,” Barredo said in Philspada’s radio program on DZSR yesterday.

“We already tried this when we staged the Philspada National Games side by side with the PNG (Philippine National Games) but this year, we asked that we separate it again because of logistical problems – like scheduling, transportation, etc.,” he added.

The Malaysians were inspired by the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which had para events contested in the main program.

“I don’t know how the other countries view it but whatever the decision will be, we’ll support it,” said Barredo.