BREAKING NEWS: Vietnam has postponed the 31st Southeast Asian Games that were due to be staged in Hanoi from 21 November to 2 December. The SEA Games Federation made the announcement on Thursday afternoon.

The decision has been taken owing to the developing Covid-19 situation not only in Vietnam, but also in other Southeast Asian nations, with the Philippines and Indonesia both experiencing a third wave, largely due to the dreaded Delta variant. Vietnam’s southern hub of Ho Chi Minh begins a lockdown on Friday. A new date for the biennial sports event will be announced in due course. It could well mean that there are SEA Games two years running, with Cambodia set to play host in 2023.

Thursday’s announcement will be welcomed by sporting bodies in the region who have expressed their dismay that the Summer Olympics in Tokyo are still going ahead this month. Its torch relay was cancelled earlier this week and just on Thursday, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency in Tokyo, banning all spectators from attending. The games of the 32nd Olympiad are due to open in two weeks’ time, on Friday 23 July.