Events 16 sports Closing ceremony 23 September 2017 | Nations participating 11 Opening ceremony 17 September 2017 | |
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Motto Rising Together(Malay: Bangkit Bersama) | ||
The 2017 ASEAN Para Games, officially known as the 9th ASEAN Para Games, is an upcoming biannual regional multi-sport event scheduled to be held after the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 17 to 23 September 2017 with 16 sports and disciplines featured in the games. This will be the sixth time Malaysia host the Southeast Asian Games, but its third time as host of the ASEAN Para Games.
Contents
- Host city
- Development and preparation
- Venues
- Volunteers
- Countdown
- Logo and mascot
- Participating nations
- Sports
- References
The 2017 ASEAN Para Games is the ninth edition of the ASEAN Para Games since its inception in 2001 and is the seventh edition of the games to follow the tradition that the host venue of the Southeast Asian Games is also the host of the ASEAN Para Games, a tradition broken when 2009 ASEAN Para Games was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia instead of Vientiane, Laos and when 2011 ASEAN Para Games was held in Surakarta instead of Jakarta. Malaysia is the first nation to host the ASEAN Para Games before Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and Singapore and is hosting the games for the first time since 2009.
Host city
The 9th ASEAN Para Games will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Previously, on July 2012, the SEAGF meeting in Myanmar confirmed that Malaysia would host the regional biennial event in 2017, should there be no other country willing to bid for the host job. Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary general Sieh Kok Chi, who attended the meeting, said that Myanmar would host the Games in 2013, followed by Singapore in 2015. Then it should be Brunei's turn but it wanted to host the 2019 Games instead of the 2017 edition. Malaysia is willing to be the host for the 2017 Games. This means the hosting rights of the ASEAN Para Games automatically goes to Malaysia, which will host the games two weeks after the end of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.
On 12 May 2016, a meeting was held between Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and the Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) to discuss the possibilities of organising the 2017 Southeast Asian Games and the 2017 ASEAN Para Games simultaneously and the merger of the two games. The same topic was also discussed at the Asean Para Sports Federation Board of Governors meeting on 7 June 2016. By 14 July, the proposal has been rejected by SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) Council, with 9 member countries have opposed the proposal while only two (Malaysia and Laos) agreed, citing the reason for the rejection was due to the tradition and culture that has long been maintained by SEAGF. Hence, the date of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games was set from 17 to 23 September 2017.
Development and preparation
The Malaysia SEA Games Organising Committee (MASOC) is the governing body for the 2017 ASEAN Para Games. It was formed in 2015 to oversee the staging of the event.
Venues
The 2017 ASEAN Para Games will be organised across a few states in Malaysia. All the existing venues in Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex will be upgraded while a new velodrome will be built in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan to host track cycling events.
More than RM1.6 billion has been allocated by the host country to turn the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, and its surrounding areas into a Sports City. The first phase of the work will get the Bukit Jalil National Stadium ready to host the 2017 ASEAN Para Games.
Volunteers
The organisers estimated that about 20,000 volunteers are needed to successfully host the SEA games and the ASEAN Para Games. Volunteer recruitment began on 14 November 2015, the same date as the launch party of the games logo, theme and mascot. In less than 48 hours, more than 20,000 have signed up as volunteers who will be shortlisted for a variety of duties, ranging from scorekeeping, crowd control, ticketing, promotions and many more.
Countdown
During the closing ceremony of the 2015 ASEAN Para Games, the ASEAN Para Sports Federation Flag was formally handed over to Malaysia from Singapore. This was followed by a song and dance section highlighting Malaysia as the next venue. On 14 November 2015, a launch party was held at the Suria KLCC to launch the logo, mascot and the volunteer recruitment programme.
On 19 August 2016, a series of festivities, dubbed the "Wau Factor" were held at the National Sports Council Centre in Setiawangsa, to mark the one-year countdown to the games.
Logo and mascot
Similar to the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, the logo of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games is an image of a Wau Bulan, a crescent-shaped kite traditionally popular on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The combination of stripes and colours were collated from the flags of all the Southeast Asian countries to create the Kuala Lumpur 2017 identity. It was selected after a nationwide logo competition which saw 174 entries submitted for consideration. The Wau is described as graceful, beautiful, powerful, rising high above and something that could uniquely represent the transcendent power of sports.
Similar to the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, the official mascot of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games is an anthropomorphic Malayan tiger named Rimau. It was unveiled on 14 November 2015, together with the games' logo and theme. The name is an abbreviation of the games' core values, namely: Respect, Integrity, Move, Attitude and Unity. He is described as a gracious, friendly, and competitive athlete.
Participating nations
- ^ Timor-Leste is currently suspended by the International Paralympic Committee and will only be allowed to participate if the suspension is lifted in time for the games.
Sports
The following 16 Para Sports have been included for the games.