Organisation
Development and preparation
The Philippine SEA Games Organising Committee (PhilSOC) was formed to oversee the staging of the games.Venues
The 23rd Southeast Asian Games had 38 venues for the games, 19 in Manila, 5 each in Cebu and Negros Occidental respectively, 4 in Zambales, 2 each in Cavite and Laguna respectively and 1 in PampangaTorch relay
A ceremony was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, the host of the 2003 Southeast Asian Games to pass the flame to 2005 edition's host, the Philippines. After the flame arrived in Cebu, it passed through several cities in the Philippines before it ended in Manila on 27 November 2005.Marketing
Logo
The logo of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games dubbed as the "Ethnic-Masked Athlete" which features an athlete wearing a gold festival mask, similar to those found in most Southeast Asian countries, and a headgear. The mask is meant to signify the different countries that gather together for the games as well as the exuberant spirit and hospitality of the Filipinos. The logo also was made to represent the athlete's mixed emotions in participating in the sporting event; pain, suffering, and anxiety which are downplayed by friendship and sportsmanship. The logo was inspired by the MassKara Festival held annually in Bacolod, one of the satellite venues of the event. The logo was designed by Filipino freelance graphic designer Joel Manalastas.Mascot
The mascot of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games is a Philippine eagle named ''Gilas''. The Philippine eagle is one of the world's largest eagles, distinct for its majestic plumage on its head. The eagle is a symbol of elegance, strength and pride and winning spirit of the athletes. ''Gilas'' was inspired by the Filipino language, Filipino words ''Maliksi'' (agile), ''Malakas'' (strong), ''Matalino'' (smart), ''Mataas'' (high), and ''Matalas'' (sharp). The SEA Games mascot was originally a Philippine tarsier until the Philippine SEA Games Organising Committee (PhilSOC) changed it to the Philippine eagle. The SEA Games mascot Gilas was designed by Filipino sportswriter/columnist Danny Simon.Songs
The theme of the games was ''"One Heritage, One Southeast Asia"''. Highlighted during the games' opening ceremony, the theme emphasises unity and co-operation among the 11 member nations of the SEA Games Federation. The official hymn was ''"We're All Just One."'' The hymn was composed by singer-composer Jose Mari Chan and lyricist Rene Nieva. It was sung by Julia Abueva, granddaughter of Philippine national artist Napoleon Abueva, and University of the Philippines President Dr. Emerlinda R. Roman. She was accompanied by the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Ryan Cayabyab.Sponsors
A total of 27 sponsors sponsored the games. * Milo (drink), Nestle Milo * Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company * Globe (Philippine Telecommunications Company), Globe Handyphone * FBT (company), FBT * Summit Drinking Water * Microsoft * Pinoy Stamps * Yonex * FedEx * Revicon Forte * Thunder Power Drink * Ison Info Systems * Philippine National Oil Company * Cebgo * Century Park Hotel * Copylandia * Molten Corporation, Molten * Hapee * Philippine Airlines * Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office * Mabuhay Satellite Corporation * Gatorade * Canon Inc. * Philips * Glocal Media Networks * Sports Central * The SM StoreThe games
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremonies of the games were held at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila; the first time a park was utilised instead of a stadium which set a record for the world's largest live audience in an opening ceremony with 200,000 people. By doing so, it brought down costs, alleviating the need to spend millions of pesos just to upgrade existing facilities. It also accommodated audiences and is considered large in an opening ceremony, bigger than the openers of the Summer Olympic Games, Olympic Games. Among the audiences were the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Philippines' largest Islam, Islamic separatist group which sent representatives to attend the opening ceremonies as spectators. Renowned director Maria Montelibano was in charge of the overall program direction, while Ryan Cayabyab and Robert Tongco were in charge of musical and dance direction, respectively. Creative director Pogs Mendoza and assistant director Bebot Pondevida designed the stage.''All is set for grand Games opening''Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony of the Games was held at the Quirino Grandstand on 5 December at 20:00 PST. The ceremony began with songs and dance performances by local artists and performers, followed by the parade of athletes by order of sports competed at the games. After President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave her speech, she declared the 23rd Southeast Asian games closed. The flame of the games' cauldron was extinguished and the Federation flag was lowered. Mike Arroyo, the Head of Mission of Team Philippines was accompanied by Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose 'Peping' Cojuangco Jr. to handed over the SEA Games Federation flag to Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister, Suwat Liptapanlop, a symbol of the SEA Games responsibilities being handed over to Thailand, host of the 2007 Southeast Asian Games. The Thai National Anthem was played as the National flag of Thailand was raised. A Thailand segment performance was performed by Thai dancers, who graced the stage to provide spectators with a glimpse of what the athletes would expect in Nakhon Ratchasima. The ceremony concluded with a Filipino farewell segment performance, showing the culture of the Philippines.Participating nations
All eleven nations in Southeast Asia participated with the Philippines having the largest delegation with 892 athletes as host country. * * * * * * * (Host) * * * *Sports
The 2005 SEA Games featured 40 sports. The 23rd edition of the games had the highest number of sporting events in the entire history of the SEAG at that time; more events than the Asian Games and the Olympic Games. The Southeast Asian Games Federation, through the recommendation of the Philippine SEA Games Organising Committee (PhilSOC), decided to exclude basketball, a popular sport in the Philippines, from the competitions due to the decision of FIBA to ban the host country to participate in any international competitions of the sport. * * ³ * * * * ° * ¹ * ¹ * * ¹ * * ¹ * * ³ * * * * * * * ¹ * ³ * ² * ² * ² * * * ¹ * * ° * ¹ * * * * ¹ * * * * * ¹ ¹ - not an official Olympic SportMedal table
A total of 1462 medals, comprising 444 gold medals, 434 silver medals, and 584 bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The Host Philippines performance was its best ever yet in Southeast Asian Games history, emerged as overall champion of the games.Broadcasting
* The Games was broadcast live and uninterrupted in the Philippines, simultaneously by privately owned TV5 (Philippines), ABC 5, and the government networks: People's Television Network, National Broadcasting Network and the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (both except Radio Philippines Network) that complete the local broadcast pool. * In Singapore, the games was broadcast on Mediacorp Channel 5, in Thailand by Channel 5 and in Vietnam by VTV Channel 3. Mabuhay Satellite transmitted the ceremony to international broadcasters through the Filipino ABS-3, Aguila 2 satellite.Concerns and controversies
* The Philippines' decision to scatter the events in multiple cities across the country posed logistical problems for the athletes and officials. * Thailand protested a boxing decision that favoured the host country to the International Boxing Association (amateur), International Boxing Association (AIBA). * The 2005 SEA Games website was also criticised for its outdated tally of the medal standings. * At the Opening Ceremony, President Arroyo was booed by the spectators due to the alleged cheating in the 2004 Philippine general election. * Venues outside Manila actively prepared for welcoming the visiting athletes, except for organisers in the capital region had numerous problems drumming-up widespread support and exposure for the Games. Among the only visible indications of the Games, apart from the commercial sponsors' advertisements, were the welcome banners put up by the city government. * Four Vietnam at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Vietnamese Pencak Silat at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, pencak silat competitors, Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, Nguyen Van Hung (martial artist), Nguyen Van Hung, Le Anh Tuan (martial artist), Le Anh Tuan and Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy won gold medals despite had their schedules changed at the last minute and without due notification by the games organiser to the athletes involved. Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, for instance, discovered the change only by chance, and would have forfeited the game if she did not turn up during the rescheduled time. *At the opening ceremonies in Cebu City, organizers were impressed over the sell-out crowd of 20,000 spectators. However, city officials were furious over how this was achieved after they discovered that the planning committee for the Cebu opening ceremonies heavily slashed ticket prices from 100 Philippine peso, pesos to 20 pesos. Even at P20 per ticket, discounts were given further. Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña said that he was disappointed that the sell-out crowd was achieved by selling tickets with "dirt-cheapness" and was also furious over the organizers' overspending for the event. *In Table Tennis at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, table tennis, the Singapore at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Singaporean delegation, although widely expected to retain their titles, voiced objections over the change of tables used without informing the athletes prior to the competitions, a move that violates international rules. * In Athletics at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, marathon, both male and female athletes were scheduled to run on the same route. The women departed 10 minutes before the men did, which was against the rules. It is provided by the rules that if male and female runners are to be arranged in the same route, the females must depart at least 30 minutes before the males do. Because of this arrangement, this later broke out protest by the Vietnam at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Vietnamese team. The judges argued that the Vietnamese male runner, Nguyen Van Khoa, was 'illegally pacing' his female teammate, Nguyen Thi Hoa, from the 28th kilometre to the finish line 'to assist her to win the medal'. Both competitors were disqualified. The Vietnamese team, however, defended that because male runners departure was just only 10 minutes after the females, they must catch up the females somewhere mid-way; and no regulations provide that the male runner must run faster than the female. The marshals' decision however remained unchanged. * Thailand at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Thailand, through Jaruk Areerajakaran, the secretary-general of Thailand's Olympic Committee, claims that the Philippines at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Philippines was cheating throughout the course of the Games by rigging the results of the events, it being more concerned in winning gold medals rather than the spirit of the games. The scandal even prompted Thai Prime Minister of Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to consider bringing up the issue at the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN summit in Malaysia and/or to hold a summit on fair play during the SEA Games. The Philippines has denied rigging the results of the sports mentioned by Thaksin, which include Aquatics at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Aquatics, Athletics at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Athletics and Fencing at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Fencing. One protest filed by the Thai delegation was taken into action immediately after watching the video-finish of the 10,000 meter run. The Filipino winner returned the gold medal in exchange of the silver medal of the Thai runner. In a development of this scandal, Chaiyapak Siriwat, the vice-president of the Thailand Olympic Council, apologized to the Philippines for the report, claiming that it is "inappropriate and baseless". Confirmation is still pending over the comments of the Thai prime minister over his disappointment over the results of the SEA Games. In fact, he (Siriwat) has yet to receive any complaint from the Thai delegation about any judging irregularities. Despite the organizer's denial of rigging the results, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered an investigation into the controversy raised by Thaksin's remarks about officiating during the Games. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement apparently aimed at defusing the controversy, they said that Thaksin Shinawatra, Thaksin did not directly accuse the Philippines of favoring its athletes to win and blamed the media for taking the Prime Minister's remarks "out of context." Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister, Suwat Liptapanlop, arrived 3 December to personally witness the events in the games. After watching a Tennis at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, tennis game finals between Thailand and the Philippines (lower seeded Philippines won), Suwat stressed that the Philippines and Thailand "have very good relations" and the controversy won' t destroy diplomatic relations between Philippines and Thailand. He also acknowledge the efforts made by Philippines of hosting the games. The allegations are no longer an issue for the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur as the other nine ASEAN countries and East Timor congratulated the Philippines for its overall win. * Two Thailand at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Thai aquatics officials have been sanctioned by FINA (International Aquatics Federation) for biased judging. One Thai diving judge was disciplined by the FINA neutral referee from New Zealand for "obviously favoring his own diver". Another Thai referee, in water polo, was banned from the deck because of "intentional bad calls and unfair player exclusions". The referee had the Vietnam at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Vietnamese team lose points thus he was never allowed to be on the deck again according to a FINA neutral delegate from Iran. * An emotional Filipino crowd threw coins into the Boxing at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, boxing ring during the men's middleweight finals in Bacolod, forcing the referee to stop the fight in favor of Thai boxer Suriya Prasatinphimai who was leading in the first round. It was not clear what started the commotion, but ring announcers said the home crowd were angry that the judges were not scoring some of the punches being made by Filipino boxer Reynaldo Galido. The allegations nearly sparked riots. * According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, in Athletics at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, track and field, the Philippine delegation's top distance runner, in a last-ditch attempt to win the gold, blocked the lane of his fast-approaching Thai counterpart. Because of this, he was promptly disqualified. * After the Philippines at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Philippines lost to Myanmar at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Myanmar in the women's Sepak Takraw at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, sepak takraw final, a team manager immediately filed a protest and requested a gender test of three Myanmar players. The three were subjected to the mandatory doping test. The Philippines withdrew the protest on 4 December as a sign of friendship and sportsmanship. The decision came to defuse any controversy and to show its goodwill as hosts. * Two Vietnam at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Vietnamese Football at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games#Men's tournament, men's football players, striker Pham Van Quyen and midfielder Le Quoc Vuong, were arrested in Hanoi for "indulging in betting on games and organising betting" (match-fixing). The scandal apparently took place in a match with Vietnam placed against Myanmar at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, Myanmar, with Vietnam winning 1–0. However, the results are disputed after allegations rose on state television state that some Vietnamese players appeared to slow down their play. It's also been alleged that Van Quyen received 23 million đồng from two women in Ho Chi Minh City on the way to Hanoi from Manila for the match-fix. Meanwhile, the Philippine government praised Vietnamese officials for the crackdown on football corruption and the arrest of the two players. Philippine Olympic Committee chairman Robert Aventajado said that the arrests were made to protect the sport and that Vietnam is working to stem further damage that the scandal has caused to it. Two more players, midfielder Huynh Quoc Anh and defender Le Bat Hieu, were arrested on the same charges over the same scandal. It is believed that these players also received twenty million đồng from local bookmakers to make sure that Vietnam won't win by more than one goal. The same accusation is also believed to be applied to the 23 million đồng payout to Van Quyen.See also
* 2005 ASEAN Para Games * 2019 Southeast Asian GamesReferences
External links
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