KOTA KINABALU, Sept 5 — After stating it did not make any commitments earlier, the Sabah government says it will now review and reconsider the proposal to be one of the co-hosts of the 2027 South-east Asian (SEA) Games, said Sabah Youth and Sports minister Datuk Ellron Angin.

In a statement today, he said that the decision to reconsider was unanimously made the day before yesterday by members of the Cabinet meeting after reviewing and evaluating various aspects.

“Regarding the initial proposal for Sabah to be one of the co-hosts of the 2027 SEA Games, it still requires the Cabinet’s approval. The day before yesterday, we agreed that Sabah will review and reconsider the proposal,” he said.

“I will meet with the Minister of the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports as soon as possible to discuss and clarify this matter in detail. The results of the discussions and detailed information related to the hosting will be presented to the Cabinet for final decision making,” he said.

Angin said that the state government warmly welcomes the federal government’s intention to host this event and will provide full support and work closely to ensure the success of the 2027 SEA Games.

His statement comes after finance minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said that the state was unaware it had made any commitment to co-hosting part of the games at the tune of some RM100 million.

Masidi posted on his “X” account that the Cabinet meeting had confirmed it never made such commitments and that the state’s sports facilities need improvement before it could host events of such standards.

Last week, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh announced that Sabah was one of four states that was to co-host the 2027 SEA Games along with Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak and Penang.

Yeoh said the ministry had rejected several offers from other states to co-host the games because they did not agree to share the cost.

She said Sabah had offered to shoulder RM100 million of the total RM700 million cost.

Sarawak Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Hamzah said that Sarawak was willing to host a number of sports in the state while Sabah’s youth and sports minister had requested to share co-hosting duties of some sports if possible too.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/09/05/sabah-now-says-will-reconsider-proposal-to-co-host-2027-sea-games-after-earlier-claims-of-inadequate-facilities/149411