Getting To Know Morodok Techno National Stadium, Venue For SEA Games 2023 Opening Ceremony

Morodok Techo National Stadium. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Maharaja45)

JAKARTA - The opening ceremony of the 2023 SEA Games will be held at the Morodok Techo National Stadium, Cambodia, Friday, May 5. This Staduon is arguably a new face from the Cambodian state sports sector.

The stadium, which is located on the northern outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh, was built specifically for the holding of the biggest sporting event in Southeast Asia. This is called normal, considering that this is the first time the country of the Khmer Country has hosted the SEA Games.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, quoted from AFP, said Cambodia's decision to dare to hold SEA Games amid various polemics that hit the country was to demonstrate the country's stability and raise local spirits.

For this reason, the Cambodian government has made free all entrance tickets, to the end of schools so that people can participate in celebrating their inaugural SEA Games.

However, not only targeted for major sporting events in the region, but Morodok Techo was also created to host other major sporting events such as the Asian Youth Games in 2029.

The Morodok Techo National Stadium has a design or structure that resembles a sailing ship, as a form of warning Cambodia's relations with China. This is because the construction of this stadium involves assistance from the Chinese government with a cost of 1.1 billion Chinese yuan, as reported by Antara, Friday, May 5.

More than 11,000 athletes, coaches, and delegates from 10 other countries will attend Cambodia and compete for the winning medal in 36 sports competed in the regional sporting event.

Not only to compete for medals, the athletes and competing national teams are also eyeing tickets and preparing themselves for the Asian Games in China later this year, and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

At the opening ceremony of the SEA Games this year, athletes from ASEAN members will carry their national flags and appear by carrying values from their respective countries in front of thousands of pairs of eyes that packed the stadium with a capacity of 60,000 seats.

For Indonesia, women's swimmer Flairene Candrea Wonomiharjo had a great opportunity to lead the Indonesian contingent by carrying the Red and White flag at the opening ceremony of the Cambodian SEA Games.

Flairene will be in front row leading about 45 people who are representatives of 25 athletes and officials, as well as 15 representatives of the CdM Team and the Executive Committee of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (NOC Indonesia).

The sports that took part in the defile were karate, teqball, swimming, pencak silat, and sepak takraw.