SEA Games

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SEA Games
2025 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Chonburi, and Songkhla, Thailand
PurposeMulti sport event for nations on the Southeast Asian subcontinent
HeadquartersBangkok, Thailand
PresidentCharouck Arirachakaran

SEA Games, officially known as the South East Asian Games, is a biennial

Southeast Asian Games Federation with supervision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The SEA Games is one of the five subregional Games of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).[1]

History

The SEA Games owes its origins to the South East Asian Peninsular Games or SEAP Games (abbreviated as SEAPG). On 22 May 1958, delegates from the countries in Southeast Asian Peninsula attending the

Thailand Olympic Committee
. The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event will help promote co-operation, understanding, and relations among countries in the Southeast Asian region.

Six countries,

Burma (now Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, Malaya (now Malaysia), Thailand and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) were the founding members. These countries agreed to hold the Games biennially in June 1959 and the SEAP Games Federation Committee was formed thereafter.[2]

The first SEAP Games were held in

Burma (now Myanmar), Laos, Malaya, Singapore, South Vietnam and Thailand
participated in 12 sports.

At the 8th SEAP Games in 1975, the SEAP Federation considered the inclusion of Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines. These countries were formally admitted in 1977, the same year when SEAP Federation changed their name to the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF), and the games were known as the Southeast Asian Games. Despite its location closer to the Pacific archipelago than the Asian continent and not being a member of ASEAN, East Timor was admitted at the 22nd SEA Games in 2003 Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh City.

The 2009 SEA Games was the first time Laos has ever hosted a SEA Games (Laos had previously declined to host the 1965 SEAP Games citing financial difficulties). Running from 9–18 December, it has also commemorated the 50 years of the SEA Games, held in Vientiane, Laos. The 2023 SEA Games, held from 5–17 May, was the first time Cambodia has ever hosted a SEA Games (Cambodia was awarded the 1963 SEAP Games, which was cancelled due to domestic political situation).

Symbol

The Southeast Asian Games symbol was introduced during the

2011
Games in Indonesia to reflect the federation's newest member, East Timor, which was admitted in 2003.

Participating NOCs

NOC Names Debuted IOC code Other codes used
 Brunei 1977 BRU BRN (ISO)
 Cambodia 1961 CAM KHM (1972–1976, ISO)
 Indonesia 1977 INA IHO (1952), IDN (FIFA, ISO)
 Laos 1959 LAO
 Malaysia 1959 MAS MAL (1952−1988), MYS (ISO)
 Myanmar 1959 MYA BIR (1948–1988), MMR (ISO)
 Philippines 1977 PHI PHL (ISO)
 Singapore 1959 SGP SIN (1959–2016)
 Thailand 1959 THA
 East Timor 2003 TLS IOA (2000)
 Vietnam 1959[a] VIE VET (1964), VNM (1968–1976, ISO)
  1. ^ While  South Vietnam competed from 1959–1973,  North Vietnam never competed. Unified  Vietnam has competed since 1989.

List of SEA Games

Main article: List of SEA Games host cities

Since the SEA Games began in 1959, it has been held in 15 cities across all

2025
2027
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Location of the Southeast Asian Games host