MANILA, Philippines — Finally, a semblance of order in the Southeast Asian Games.
Singapore SEA Games officials have approved six more sports in their calendar including Olympic sports of boxing, equestrian and indoor volleyball, while limiting “unknown sports” to just two (floor ball and net ball).
Philippine Olympic Committee chair Tom Carrasco reported Friday that the organizers are bent to add just one more Olympic sport which is a toss between weightlifting and karatedo.
The SEA Games has been widely criticized for allowing the host country to insert indigenous or seldom-played games into the calendar to boost its chances in the medal race.
Last year, Burma (Myanmar) took the hit after it included never-heard sports like vovinam, kempo and chin lone, while scrapping traditional sports like lawn tennis and bowling.
Burma earned enough gold medals from the obscure sports to end up second overall behind Thailand.
The Philippines wound up seventh for its worst finish ever in the biennial meet.
In total, there are 36 sports to be played the 2015 SEA Games, 24 of them are Olympic sports, and 34 are either Olympic or Asian Games sports, according to Carrasco, who is also the triathlon chief.