2027 SEA Games opening to be held at Sarawak Stadium, says Abd Karim

KUCHING (Sept 4): The opening ceremony for the 2027 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games will be held at the Sarawak Stadium, said Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

The Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development when contacted said the opening ceremony is one of the proposals for Sarawak as prerequisite to be co-host.

“Discussion on this 2027 SEA Games with the federal Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) is ongoing,” he added.

The Asajaya assemblyman had told reporters on Monday that Sarawak had submitted its list of sports for the regional games to KBS after the state had been asked to choose half of the 36 sports which will be contested in the biennial multi-sport event.

Last week, KBS announced that Malaysia has agreed to accept the offer from the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) to host the 2027 Sea Games after taking into account the commitment pledged by Sarawak, Sabah and Penang to co-host the games.

Federal Minister of Youth and Sports Hannah Yeoh said Sarawak has offered to contribute about 50 per cent of the total estimated cost of organising the Games while Sabah is offering RM100 million and Penang RM15 million.

However Sabah Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun today said the state has not agreed to co-host the SEA Games or committed to paying any part of the costs.

He said he had no knowledge about the state government purportedly confirming to be one of three states hosting the game, at a cost of around RM100 million to Sabah.

“The state Cabinet meeting today confirmed it had never made any financial commitment towards the organising of the SEA Games 2027.

“The Sabah government is also not ready to be the co-host because the sporting facilities in the state still needs to be improved,” he said on X.