Without the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games (Aimag) as a gauge, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has set a different but familiar standard for Filipino athletes looking to qualify for the 31st Southeast Asian Games. (SEAG) to come.

“We were supposed to use Aimag as the criteria for an athlete to be part of the SEA Games programming. But since Aimag has been shelved, we will be building on their current ranking in Southeast Asia, ” said POC President Representative Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

In addition to looking at past performances starting with the athlete’s production at the SEA 2019 Games, hosted by the country, Tolentino said they are expected to place at least in the top 3 in their respective events in the region.

“Our gold medalists at the SEA Games have a very good chance. We are also looking at other medalists who have won silver and bronze if they are still able to reach the podium, ” said the representative from Cavite, who will run for mayor of Tagaytay in the next election.

The POC originally announced that 626 athletes from 39 sports would attend the Games, which has been postponed this year due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in the region.

This clearly means that the non-medalists and the athletes of the current top 3 rankings in their respective sport will have to find ways to join the Philippines team at the SEA Games which will be held in Hanoi from May 12 to 23 of next year.

Tolentino explained that these athletes could get a sponsor to fund their participation and will be reimbursed if they win medals.

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