CLARK, Philippines: President Rodrigo Duterte will attend Saturday’s opening ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games, the presidential palace said, a day after the Philippine leader apologized for the chaotic build-up.
The organization of the 30th edition of the SEA Games has been mocked and marred by complaints about transport, accommodation and food as thousands of athletes have flooded into the Philippines for the biggest-ever edition of the multi-sport event.
And the threat of an approaching typhoon — forecasted to hit the north of the country early next week — looms large.
Duterte had pledged a probe into the troubled run-up to the Games’ opening ceremony at the Philippine Arena, around 25 kilometers north of the capital Manila, after a rush of logistical problems and last-minute construction.
“I’m really apologizing for the country ... they (other nations) should know while they are still here that the government is not happy,” Duterte said in an interview that aired Friday.
“You cannot just cast away all those — the discomfort, the sufferings of the athletes, sleeping on the floors, getting hungry,” he added. “To the countries that sent them here, it’s a big deal.”
He also instructed organizers to release complimentary tickets to many of the 56 sports at the SEA Games to locals.
The Philippines was bracing for a typhoon which national forecasters warned was maintaining its strength.
PAGASA said Typhoon Kammuri — which is packing gusts of 185 kilometers per hour and maximum sustained winds of 150 kph (93 mph) — is presently heading right for Games venues in the north of the country and is expected to make landfall on Tuesday.
As the build-up woes cast a shadow over the Games, Indonesia clinched the first gold medal of the competition with a historic victory, bringing Singapore’s 54-year stranglehold on the men’s water polo competition to an end.
With only sailing, windsurfing and netball on the sporting schedule on Saturday, all eyes will be on the opening ceremony, which starts at 7 p.m. (1100 GMT).
Many of the details remain a secret, although the show’s director, Filipino writer Floy Quintos, shared a photo on Facebook of hundreds of performers in colorful costumes on stage.
“Yes, the show is a spectacle,” wrote the award-winning playwright, adding the image showed a people “united.”
“And the power of spectacle is one that has been used, worldwide by the powerful to further agendas. But it is in the hands of the spectacle’s creators to patch together some meaning, some cohesion, some message that goes beyond the political.”
This year’s Games in Clark, Manila and Subic, which run through to December 11, are particularly complex with a record 56 sports across dozens of venues that are in some cases hours’ drives apart, even before Manila’s notorious gridlock traffic is factored in.
SEA Games: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to attend opening ceremony
SEA Games: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to attend opening ceremony
- The organization of the 30th edition of the SEA Games has been mocked and marred by complaints
- Duterte had pledged a probe into the troubled run-up to the Games’ opening ceremony
Arsenal seize control as Man City slip, Chelsea thrash Villa
- Saka’s deflected effort in the ninth minute proved sufficient as Arsenal kept a 14th Premier League clean sheet of the season with a gritty display
BRIGHTON, England: Arsenal seized control of the Premier League title race as Bukayo Saka’s goal secured a priceless 1-0 win at Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City could only draw 2-2 at home to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta’s side went into their south coast assignment leading the table but looking over their shoulders at City, but ended the night with a first title since 2004 glinting on the horizon after a big swing in their favor.
Saka’s deflected effort in the ninth minute proved sufficient as Arsenal kept a 14th Premier League clean sheet of the season with a gritty display.
Wasteful City twice led with goals by Antoine Semenyo and Rodri but both times Forest hit back, first through Morgan Gibbs-White’s crafty backheel and then in the 76th minute through Elliot Anderson.
Arsenal have 67 points from 30 games to City’s 60 from 29 and are now firmly in the driving seat again, although they do still have to go to City on April 19.
“Yeah it’s a huge win. We come from a very big game (against Chelsea), with players on the line in different ways, who couldn’t train,” Arteta said.
The battle for a top-five finish and qualification for the Champions League took another twist as Manchester United suffered their first defeat under interim manager Michael Carrick, losing 2-1 to 10-man Newcastle United.
Substitute William Osula came off the bench to score a superb late solo winner for Eddie Howe’s side.
Newcastle had Jacob Ramsey sent off for a second yellow card in first-half stoppage time but they then took the lead with an Anthony Gordon penalty only for Casemiro to head an equalizer in a chaotic spell before the halftime whistle.
United remained in third place with 51 points while Aston Villa also have 51 in fourth place after being thrashed 4-1 at home by Chelsea, for whom Joao Pedro scored a hat-trick. Chelsea moved above Liverpool into fifth place with 48 points.
“There is still three points difference between them and us but now we are in a bad moment,” Villa boss Unai Emery said.
Forest’s surprise draw at City kept them out of the relegation zone on goal difference from West Ham United who won 1-0 at Fulham thanks to a goal by Crysencio Summerville.
Both sides have 28 points and are breathing down the necks of Tottenham Hotspur who have 29 ahead of their now crucial home clash with Crystal Palace on Thursday.
