Southeast Asian Games organizers sorry for inconvenience, confusion

MANILA, Nov 24, 2019, Rappler. Local organizers of the Southeast Asian Games apologized to the foreign teams that arrived in Manila over the weekend following several logistical complaints, Rappler reported.

The Philippine Southeast Asian Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) issued an apology to Timor-Leste, Myanmar and Cambodia on Sunday, November 24 “for the inconvenience caused to them by the confusion regarding their transportation and hotel arrangements.”

Several football teams had complained that they waited for hours at the airport, got shuttled to wrong hotels, or made to wait since their rooms weren’t ready.

“While PHISGOC strives to ensure proper coordination of the arrival details, airport welcome and transportation provisions of all international teams to their respective assigned hotels, we acknowledge our shortcomings in this particular incident and vow to do better,” PHISGOC said in a statement.

PHISGOC also cited several reasons – including the change in arrival details that were relayed late to organizers – that led to early hitches in the Philippines’ hosting of the regional meet set from November 30 to December 11.

The organizers also noted that there had been 75 international arrivals in the last two days “consisting of various sports team delegations, technical officials and representatives of the respective National Olympic Committees, that have gone off without a hitch.”

But following the reported incidents, PHISGOC said it would be a reminder for “organizers to be more diligent.”

“We owe it to our guests and our countrymen,” the statement said.