KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Malaysia should display its ability to organise the South-east Asian (SEA) Games and become hosts in 2027, Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary-general Datuk Nazifuddin Najib said.

He said based on records, Malaysia never rejected organising the biennial games as it could affect the country’s reputation.

"Actually, in our entire history we have never rejected organising the SEA Games, if the government rejected it would shift to another country.

"There were other countries that rejected it and it usually was a small country that didn’t have the means. So it’s not reasonable for us to reject it as it would give a bad impression to other countries,” he told Bernama after launching the book entitled ‘Esports Selamatkan Hidup Aku’ by e-sports commentator Andrew Chong, who is known by his moniker, Sir Cloud, here today.

On the estimated cost of hosting the 2027 SEA Games being over RM700 million, Nazifuddin said such costs were expected but it depends on the number of sports being contested, the venues and athletes’ accommodation.

The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) had announced yesterday that there would be engagement sessions with stakeholders to look at the financial impact of the 2027 SEA Games on the country as well as to gauge the interest of other states to host the games with Putrajaya.

The SEA Games Federation council members meeting in May 2022 unanimously agreed to hand the rights to organise the 2027 SEA Games to Malaysia after Brunei withdrew, while Thailand and Singapore would be allowed to host the games in 2025 and 2029.

The 2027 SEA Games will be the seventh time Malaysia hosts the games, after 1965, 1971, 1977, 1989, 2001 and 2017. — Bernama