[Tlc] L-SEA Games

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Avoiding the loss of face.
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justin



2008-1203 - Reuters - SEA Games to introduce quotas to prevent medal sweeps

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldOfSport/idINIndia-36839620081203

Reuters India

SEA Games to introduce quotas to prevent medal sweeps
Wed Dec 3, 2008 11:20am IST

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Southeast Asian (SEA) Games will introduce athlete quotas in half its sports next year to prevent dominant countries from sweeping the medals.

The biennial event, taken as seriously as the Olympics by its 11 member countries, will restrict the number of athletes each nation enters in 12 of the 25 sports in Laos next year.

"We've seen it before, some countries are so strong they're almost guaranteed a clean sweep," SEA Games council member Charoen Wattanasin told Reuters on Wednesday.

"There was a long debate, most countries agreed, some didn't, but we will introduce the limits next year."

The quotas will be placed mainly on martial arts like taekwondo, wushu, judo and karate, but will also affect non- combat sports such as weightlifting and sepaktakraw.

The ruling is likely to cause a stir among member countries, most of which were unhappy when cash-strapped Laos was awarded the Games, its first international event.

The decision to slash the number of sports from 43 to 25 to suit the country's limited budget and facilities had already angered many athletes, with obscure disciplines like pencak silat and petanque replacing sports like gymnastics and basketball.

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Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu