ASEAN Para Sports Meet in Manila Gets Big Boost from International Paralympic Head

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Preparations for the 10^th ASEAN Para Games that will be hosted by the Philippines in January 2020 goes full swing this June with the meeting of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF) that will be attended by Heads of National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) from the 11 member countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste and the Philippines.

Andrew Parsons, current president of the International Paralympic Committee, gives a big boost to the event as his Manila visit coincides with the conduct of the federation meeting. Parsons is here to help promote the Philippine paralympic movement, which embraces the IPC vision to enable para athletes to achieve sporting excellence, and inspire and excite the world.

At the top of the agenda is identification of the sports to be played in the 10^th ASEAN Para Games (APG) that will be held in January 2020, after the 30^th Southeast Asian Games that will also be hosted by the Philippines in December 2019. 

A total of 16 sports were played in the 9th APG held in Malaysia in 2017. These were Boccia, Chess, Cerebral Palsy Football, Football 5-A-Side, Goalball, Para Archery, Para Athletics, Para Badminton, Para Cycling, Para Powerlifting, Para Swimming, Para Table Tennis, Sitting Volleyball, Tenpin Bowling, Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Tennis.

Participants in the APG include athletes with physical, vision and intellectual disabilities. The ASEAN Para Games is under the regulation of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF) while the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Asian Paralympic Committee lend technical and classification assistance when needed.

The Para Games, held every two years, is traditionally hosted by the country where the Southeast Asian Games are held. It is supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Michael Barredo, Philippine Paralympic Committee President, said the June meeting in Manila will set the preparations for the ASEAN Para Games in motion and Parsons’ presence here on a visit will boost efforts currently underway for the coming Para Games. This is the second time that the Philippines is hosting the ASEAN Para Games since 2005.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, who is ASEAN Para Games Organizing Committee Chairman, announced that the games will be held in three separate hubs located in Metro Manila, Clark and Subic. An international sports complex is now under construction in Clark where a 20,000-seat stadium is rising.  An aquatic center that meets Olympic standards is also in the works.

The ASEAN Para Sports Federation meeting will be held from June 8 to 9 at the Bonifacio Global City.   

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