Not all NSAs to see action in SEAG, chief of mission says

Southeast Asian Games chief of mission Monsour del Rosario on Tuesday said he will go for “quality over quantity” when it comes to the composition of Team Philippines in the coming biennial showcase the country will host later this year.

As the host country, Del Rosario said “we have control over the sports to be played and events to be included. We must structure them to work to our advantage.”

With the joint SEA Games Task Force already up and running, Del Rosario said they can not accommodate all the requests for inclusion by the national sports associations.

The priority, according to him, is athletes who can win gold medals.

“We have to choose, overall championship or full exposure for all NSAs. If we want overall title then those who can’t guarantee they can deliver gold medals, they shouldn’t feel bad if they don’t get included,” Del Rosario said.

“Personally, I’d go for overall [championship], but that would require strategy. The SEA Games is all about winning gold medals.”

Del Rosario said that he is being modest in saying third place overall is “doable, but definitely we will go for first place overall.”

There are 56 sports to be played in the Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 spectacle, compared to the 44 when the Philippines last hosted in 2005.