25th SEA Games sports complex almost 100% finished !

First check of SEA Games complex set for April


Photo: The SEA Games main stadium as it looked last month, with construction now about 80 percent complete.

All facilities at the 25th SEA Games sports complex are now more than 80 percent complete, site manager Kiengkham Phoutchanhthavongsa said yesterday.

“We are confident that construction of all venues at the site will be finished by the end of March. We are now putting the finishing touches to the facilities at each venue, installing furniture and building roads around the complex,” he said.

“When construction is finished, there will be three months of checks of the facilities at all venues in the complex to make sure everything is functioning properly. The schedule of tests runs from April to June, after which we will hand over the complex to the Lao SEA Games Organising Committee.”

The 125-hectare sports complex is located in Dongsanghine village, Xaythany district, Vientiane , and houses the main stadium with a seating capacity of 20,000, which will be used for the football and track and field events and for the opening and closing ceremonies.

Other venues at the site comprise two indoor stadiums, each with a seating capacity of 3,000, an indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, and a shooting range.

Construction began on October 28, 2007, under a contract with the China Yunnan Construction Engineering Group Corporation. The cost of construction is more than US$80 million and has been arranged through a joint cooperation project between the Lao government and the China Development Bank.

The upgrading of other facilities, including indoor and football stadiums to be used for competition and training, is also in progress.

Meanwhile, work has finished on a new sports training centre on an 11-hectare site in Sikeud village, Naxaithong district.

The centre cost more than 35 billion kip (US$4 million) to build, financed by grant aid from the government of Vietnam . An opening ceremony will be held on January 18.

The centre comprises an office, sleeping quarters for athletes, a running track and playing field, a football pitch, a gymnasium and other facilities for sporting events. Up to 200 athletes will be able to train there every day.

Construction is also in progress on the athletes' village, which is located on a 42,000sqm site at the Dongdok campus, National University of Laos. It is scheduled for completion in August.

Lao and Thai officials discuss SEA Games 2009 preparations

Officials from the Lao SEA Games Organising Committee and Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sport met on Wednesday in Vientiane to discuss preparations for the 2009 SEA Games. –Photo Sisay

The Lao SEA Games Organising Committee (LAOSOC) met with delegates from the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports in Vientiane on Wednesday to discuss progress on preparations for the 25th SEA Games.

The meeting was chaired by Lao National Sports Committee Vice President, Mr Somphou Phongsa, and the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports' Permanent Secretary Dr Sasithara Pichaichannarong.

The two sides discussed preparations for the games including the compilation of competition technical teams, construction of training and competition facilities, traffic and transport arrangements, volunteer organisers, television broadcasting and accommodation for athletes and officials.

Thai officials reported on the progress of an indoor stadium upgrade which the Thai government is providing 43 billion kip (179 million baht) funding for. The stadium in Beungkhayong village, Sisattanak district of Vientiane will host the shuttlecock and muay events during the games.

The facility is on track for completion in October next year, the meeting was told.

Mr Somphou, on behalf of LAOSOC, thanked the Thai government for its support in upgrading the Beungkhayong indoor stadium and other preparations for the event, which will be held in December 2009.

“In preparing for the games we have also received generous support from other neighbouring countries including Vietnam and China ,” he said.

Last month a meeting of the SEA Games Federation decreed the event would consist of 390 events across the 25 sports of athletics, aquatic sports (swimming, diving and water polo), archery, badminton, billiards and snooker, boxing, cycling, football, golf, judo, karatedo, sepak takraw, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and soft tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, wushu, muay, fin swimming, petanque, shuttlecock and pencak silat.

Competition venues are the national sports complex at Km 16 in Dongsanghin village, Xaythany district; Don Chan Palace; Booyoung and Olympasia indoor stadiums at the National University of Laos; Lao International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre; Chao-anouvong stadium in Anou village, Chanthabouly district; the Army stadium at Km 5 and the Vientiane Sports Department in Beungkhayong village, Sisattanak district.

Laos officially invites teams to SEA Games 2009

Photo: Standing Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad ( left ), who is also Chairman of the 2009 SEA Games Organising Committee, presents an invitation to the games to the head of the Vietnamese delegation to the SEAGF Council Meeting, Mr Nguyen Danh Thai. Mr Thai accepted the invitation on behalf of all Vietnamese competitors in the games.

Invitations to athletes and delegates to attend the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane next year have been given to all members of the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF).

The official invitations were handed over at a ceremony last week in Vientiane as Asean nations' sports heads attended the SEAGF Council Meeting from November 11 to 13

The invitations were presented by Standing Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, who is also Chairman of the 25th SEA Games Organising Committee, and received by a representative from each country.

It is the custom for each SEA Games host nation to issue a formal invitation to inform each participating country the games will take place on the stated date.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad expressed his thanks to all SEAGF members for their support for Laos in hosting the 25th SEA Games and said he looked forward to seeing athletes and delegates from each country attending the games.

During the presentation of the invitations, Mr Somsavat told SEAGF sports heads that construction of facilities for the games was going well.

The complex to be used for competitions and training for several sports events and for the opening and closing ceremonies will be complete by March 2009, while other facilities will also be finished on time. The 25th SEA Games will be ready for the opening date in December 2009.

Mr Somsavat congratulated SEAGF sports heads on the successful meeting of council members in Vientiane .



The SEA Games organising committee confirmed the main stadium, located at Km 16 in Dongsanghin village, Xaythany district, is currently 70 percent complete.

Construction of other facilities is nearing completion. The athletes' village is about 15 percent complete, but is expected to be finished by next August.




Photos: The athletes' village at National University of Laos.

The athletes' village is on a 42,000sqm site at the Dongdok campus, National University of Laos. The village comprises 10 buildings and other auxiliary facilities. Eight four-storey buildings with international standard facilities will contain 1,000 rooms and accommodate 4,000 athletes. A single-storey building will house a canteen and a three-storey building will contain multi-purpose management offices.