BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: The 28th Southeast Asian Games 2015 will hosted by the Republic of Singapore from June 5-16. Brunei Darussalam’s participation at the games was discussed at the Executive Committee Meeting on the Assessment and Selection of National Athletes, this morning, ©BRUDIRECT.COM reported.
His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, the President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council, attended the meeting.
In his welcoming address, Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hazair bin Haji Abdullah, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, said that His Royal Highness’s attendance at the meeting was a show of solid support to the development of sports and the outstanding achievement of athletes in the country. It also showed that His Royal Highness pays due attention in identifying potential athletes and grooming them to be elite athletes in the future. Yang Berhormat Pehin said that the Youth and Sports Department has identified 23 elite athletes, 421 national athletes and more than one-thousand 500 young people as reserves in a total of 28 events.
The meeting discussed the qualifications of the athletes whose potential chances was put in the consideration list in the previous meeting. It also proposed suggestions in adding the qualification criteria into five points, such as free from taking banned substances and ready to undergo random doping tests. Aside from that, the athletes must also have a physical endurance record of above 85-percent.