3:43 PM | Posted by samakomlao

Myanmar to build new stadium in bid to host 2013 SEA Games

Burma's military regime has begun construction of a sports stadium in its capital Naypyidaw in anticipation of a successful bid to become the host of Southeast Asia's most important athletic event for the first time in more than 40 years, according to local media sources.

According to the Burmese Web site SoccerMyanmar.com, one 30,000-seat stadium is already under construction in Naypyidaw, while a second will be built in the near future as part of the junta's effort to bring the 27th Southeast Asia Games to Burma in 2013.

Burma will be competing with Vietnam and the Philippines for the honor of hosting the biennial event. The next SEA Games will be held in Indonesia in 2011.

Burma reportedly entered the running to host the event after Singapore withdrew its bid in December, saying that it would not be able to complete construction of its athletic facilities in time for the 2013 games.

SoccerMyanmar.com quoted a high-ranking official of the Myanmar Football Federation as saying that Burma has already been chosen to host the 2013 games. However, this could not be independently confirmed.

“We have no information of approval to host the SEA Games in 2013,” an official from the Sports Ministry in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy when contacted on Tuesday.

It appeared, however, that the regime was confident of being chosen to host the games when its sports minister, Brig-Gen Aye Myint, attended the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane, Laos, in December 2009.

According to the state-run KPL Lao News Agency, at that time, Aye Myint invited his Laotian counterparts to visit Naypyidaw to share their experience of organizing the event because Burma “would be hosting the 27th SEA Games in 2013.”

According to the Olympics Council of Asia, which is involved in supervising the SEA Games, a seminar will be held in Bangkok in March to discuss who will host the games in 2013.

Burma has hosted the games twice, in 1961 and 1969. It has not hosted the event since 1969, when the games were disrupted by student protests against the regime of late dictator Ne Win.

Burma’s standing in the world of sports has fallen dramatically since the 1980s.

The country dominated the games both times it hosted them, winning 25 gold medals in 1961 and 57 in 1969, but hasn't ranked in the top three since 1979. Last year, it came in 8th out of 11 countries.

Businessmen in Rangoon said the Burmese junta granted construction contracts for the two stadiums in Naypyidaw to the Max Myanmar Group of Companies, owned by Zaw Zaw, the chairman of the Myanmar Football Federation.

Max Myanmar, which has been targeted by international sanctions for its close ties to the Burmese regime, was also involved in building the new capital.

In recent years, the Burmese junta has begun promoting sports to bolster nationalism, as reflected in the Sports Ministry's slogan, “Myanmar Sports the World to Conquer.”

On its Web site, the ministry states: “Promotion of sports amounts to the defense of the country; success in sports reflects the level and status of the nation’s development; achievement in sports indicates the national prestige and status.”