"Indifference is causing the quality of the SEA Games to decline," was the title of an article on the Asean Football page on the evening of December 10th, right after the 33rd SEA Games officially began in Thailand, attracting nearly 5,000 likes and over 1,300 comments from Southeast Asian fans.
The series of incidents at the 33rd SEA Games received significant attention from fans across Southeast Asia, with many expressing disappointment with the host country's organization.
The organizers mistakenly displayed the wrong flag, the Vietnamese flag (Screenshot).
"The 33rd SEA Games were expected to be Thailand's chance to deliver a regional event that met Olympic standards. But just a few days into the competition, reality far exceeded the promises, leaving fans across Southeast Asia disappointed."
Although Minister of Tourism and Sports Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn called the opening ceremony "spectacular" and "unprecedented," what unfolded on the evening of December 9th at the Rajamangala Stadium was the opposite.
"In just two hours, the ceremony turned into what has been described as an organizational disaster: the map of Vietnam was displayed incorrectly, the LED screen malfunctioned throughout, there were interruptions during the live broadcast, the MC announced 574 sets of medals but the drone displayed 547 sets, and there were no fireworks," an article on the Asean Football website commented on the incidents at the SEA Games.
Furthermore, the opening day of the 2025 SEA Games, which took place yesterday (December 10th), continued to be marred by numerous incidents related to the display of national flags, a lack of transparency and fairness in refereeing, and excessively slow updates to the medal standings.
"The Cambodian sports delegation withdrew from all events on the opening day, an unprecedented event in the history of the SEA Games. The 33rd SEA Games were supposed to showcase unity, professionalism, and regional pride."
Instead, the 33rd SEA Games is rapidly becoming a sporting event where the organizers' indifference could overshadow the athletes and their competitive spirit," Asean Football concluded.
Below the post, many Southeast Asian fans also commented. "I agree with this. I thought the SEA Games in Thailand would exceed my expectations, but what's happening?"
Refereeing causes outrage on the opening day of SEA Games 33 (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).
"The venues looked old, and the broadcast gave me a 90s feel. The poor organization really lowered the standards of the Southeast Asian Games," commented Merx Vinz from the Philippines.
"Do the organizers of the 33rd SEA Games have any understanding of the national flags of different countries when they allow such repeated mistakes to happen? This is not just an incident, but also an insult to other countries," criticized Tracy Wang from Singapore.
"A disappointing SEA Games, the organization was extremely poor and unprofessional, and the technical facilities seem to have deteriorated," commented SreyEng Sok from Laos.
"The quality of these regional competitions is really poor, losing value, and gradually countries are only sending a small number of athletes to participate," concluded Uong Vu, a user from Vietnam.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/cdv-dong-nam-a-su-vo-tam-cua-ban-to-chuc-lam-giam-chat-luong-sea-games-20251211091615652.htm
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