Delayed handbooks, participation cap: Tolentino eyes SEAG changes     

President of the Philippine Olympic Committee Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino has been slotted into quite a role in the Southeast Asia (SEA) Games Federation.

“I’ve always been a bad guy,” he told the Inquirer sports staff earlier this month.

“Every federation meeting, I am the villain because of something else [national Olympic committee heads] refused to speak,” he added.

Other developments in the preparations for the Asian Games 32. The Mayor of Tagaytay City shook his head-the pending transmission of the technical handbook (THB) for Cambodia’s 49 programmed sports.

“The THB was issued only recently and most of it contains some mistakes, mistakes made by the host committee,” Tolentino said on Saturday.

However, some of what was written about THB was unacceptable, Tolentino said, adding that Cambodia is doing everything it can to jump into the top four in the overall medal standings.

“In all martial arts events, [Cambodia] put a ban on it [on participants]. And it’s not just martial arts, Tolentino told the Inquirer, adding that the rules will apply to dragon boats and sports.

Organizers Cambodia will allow other countries to field male athletes in a maximum of seven of the 10 events in each sport – four of the six events for female athletes. The host country “can make bets on all events,” Tolentino said.

Cambodia has also made many regional sports for May 5 to May 17. Finswimming, for example, hangs 24 gold medals, which can reward the host country while vovinam has 30 gold at stake for the benefit of the overall defense. champion of Vietnam, Cambodia’s neighbor and geopolitical ally.

It will also be played Ok Chakktrong, a type of chess game, and Kun bokator, a form of martial arts that is said to be a combination of kickboxing and sambo.

“Mathematics, anyone [crafted these rules] have counted the medals that can be won,” said Tolentino. “Not yet [limit participation] in 2019 [when the Philippines was SEA Games host]. That technique never crossed my mind. Too much.”

‘Make the rules’

Tolentino hopes the changes in the SEA Games rules will put an end to this gold hoarding practice.

“Definitely after the SEA Games, we will sit down and move to attack this [rules]. He had made a mockery of it [of the event],” he said.

“He’s inventing [rules]. No matter what I protest, [they just say] recorded.”

Tolentino said that while there is a silent majority in support of the bid for changes in the way the SEA Games are held, there are also difficulties in preventing the host country from imposing unilateral regulations.

“[R]emember, you need only four countries [to calendar an event],” Tolentino explained. “So you have the hosts, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. Boxing is over (Game over).

“We will try [to make changes]. We are bigger [opposition] group now because the other federations are very angry. Especially with the ban [on number of participants]. It would be wise to fix it [SEA Games] constitution. Let’s concentrate on Asian sports and Olympic sports. Some events in Cambodia will not even prepare athletes for the Asian Games.

Tolentino envisions a SEA Games that will feature “Olympic sports only, and reduced to two or three – a maximum of four regional games.”

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