Good News! SEA Games Vietnam 2021 Can Be Attended By Spectators, Tickets Are Free

JAKARTA - Good news comes ahead of the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games in Hanoi on 12-23 May. Even though it was held in the midst of the COVID-19 situation, this event could still be attended by spectators, the organizers even gave free tickets to the audience.

According to the Chef de Mission (CdM) of the Indonesian Contingent for the Vietnam SEA Games, Ferry J Kono, the decision about the agenda, which began to be attended by spectators, was taken by the organizers with the consideration that the vaccination rate in Hanoi as the host city of the SEA Games was already high.

"Currently, the (SEA Games) are allowed to be watched by the audience and not to distribute (free) tickets. That is, people are free to watch. Because the audience is free, people there have been vaccinated", Ferry said as quoted by Antara.

By allowing spectators to attend the venue, Ferry then said that he had coordinated with the Indonesian Embassy (KBRI). This was intentionally done to mobilize support for the athletes who competed later.

"Specifically in some of our matches in the final later, the Indonesian Embassy will help mobilize the masses", said Ferry.

"We hope that the CdM team will fill the arena", he continued.

Although the green light has been given to the attendance of spectators, in reality, the biggest sporting event at the Southeast Asian level is still being held in the midst of a pandemic situation. Therefore, health protocols will continue to be strictly enforced.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has just relaxed the health declaration, which means that anyone entering Vietnam is no longer required to fill out a health declaration form. However, Ferry still emphasized that the athletes would still carry out periodic checks.

"However, participants are still required to do an antigen test every two days, and we will start when we depart by doing PCR", explained Ferry.