Local sports sidelined
[SEA GAMES] The Olympic Committee of Thailand (OCT) insisted yesterday it had no intention of winning the overall title at the 2007 SEA Games by including many local sports in the regional sporting festival.
OCT secretary-general Charouck Arirachakaran assured SEA Games Federation members - who are holding a three-day meeting in Pattaya - that the next games held in Thailand would mostly feature internationally-recognised sports. Only six traditional sports would be featured in the next SEA Games. "We want to improve the standard of the SEA Games up to Asian Games or Olympic levels. We will not try to win the SEA Games by adding more local sports," he said. Maj Gen Charouck will propose that 33 international and six local sports, including muay Thai, as well as dance sports and lawn bowls would be featured in the next SEA Games, which will be held in December next year in Nakhon Ratchasima. A total of 451 gold medals will be on offer.
Lerpong Amsa-ngiam The Nation Pattaya
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