ASEAN Para Games

The ASEAN Para Games is a biennial multi-sport event held after every Southeast Asian Games involving disabled athletes from the current 11 Southeast Asia countries. Participating athletes have a variety of disabilities ranging from spastic, cerebral palsy, mobility disabilities, visual disabilities, amputated to intellectual disabilities. The ASEAN Para Games is under the regulation of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF) with supervision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Asian Paralympic Committee and is traditionally hosted by the country where the Southeast Asian Games took place.

History In May 2000, delegates from the countries in Southeast Asia attending the Malaysian Paralympiad in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had a meeting and agreed to establish a disabled sport organisation. The ASEAN Para Games was conceptualised by Zainal Abu Zarin, the founding president of the Malaysian Paralympic Council. The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event will be held after the Southeast Asian Games and help promoting friendship and solidarity among persons with disabilities in the ASEAN region and rehabilitating and integrating persons with disability into mainstream society.

Ten countries, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were the founding members. These countries agreed to hold the Games biennially on 28 April 2001 and ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF) was formed on 23 October 2001 with Pisal Wattanawongkiri, president of the Paralympic Committee of Thailand who proposed the games' name, being elected as its first president.

The first ASEAN Para Games was held in Kuala Lumpur from 26 to 29 October 2001 comprising more than 700 athletes and officials from Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participating in 2 sports.

At the 2nd ASEAN Para Games in Vietnam, East Timor was admitted into the federation as a provisional member.

Logo

The logo of the ASEAN Para Games depicts the ASEAN logo positioned in the center with the symbol of the 1994–2004 Paralympic logo on top and a victory laurel surrounding the ASEAN logo. It is used on all ASEAN Para Games edition logos since 2008. Previously, an unofficial symbol resembled the red colour version of the Southeast Asian Games Federation logo depicting the 11 red rings forming a circle which was used on the logos of the 2003 ASEAN Para Games and 2005 ASEAN Para Games. Furthermore, the 1994–2004 Paralympic logo was used on the logo of the 2001 ASEAN Para Games.

Participating countries Nation Code National Paralympic Committee Debuted BRU Paralympic Council of Brunei Darussalam 2001 CAM National Paralympic Committee of Cambodia 2001 INA National Paralympic Committee of Indonesia 2001 LAO Lao Paralympic Committee 2001 MAS Paralympic Council of Malaysia 2001 MYA Myanmar Paralympic Sports Federation 2001 PHI Paralympic Committee of the Philippines 2001 SGP Singapore National Paralympic Council 2001 THA Paralympic Committee of Thailand 2001 TLS National Paralympic Committee of Timor-Leste 2003 VIE Vietnam Paralympic Association 2001

List of ASEAN Para Games Seven participating countries have hosted the ASEAN Para Games. Malaysia has hosted three Para Games (2001, 2009, 2017), more than any nation. The 5th ASEAN Para Games in 2009 were to be hosted by Laos, but it begged off from hosting the games due to financial difficulty and inexperience in providing necessary support for athletes with disabilities; therefore, the games were brought back to Malaysia for the second time after eight years.

The 10th ASEAN Para Games scheduled to be hosted by the Philippines were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The edition numeral still applied despite the cancellation.

The 11th ASEAN Para Games were originally scheduled to be hosted by Vietnam, but were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unlike the 2021 Southeast Asian Games, which were postponed to 2022. However, Indonesia would step up to host the Games, and they were held in Surakarta between 30 July to 6 August 2022.

Indonesia has hosted ASEAN Para Games twice (2011 and 2022). Vietnam (2003), Philippines (2005), Thailand (2008), Myanmar (2014), Singapore (2015) and Cambodia (2023) have hosted one Para Games. Brunei, East Timor and Laos have yet to host the ASEAN Para Games.

+EditionYearSportsEventsNationsCompetitorsTop-ranked team12001Kuala Lumpur King Mizan Zainal Abidin 26–29 October234110≈60022003HanoiPrime Minister Phạm Gia Khiêm21–27 December528711≈80032005ManilaMayor Lito Atienza14–20 December1039411≈1,00042008Nakhon RatchasimaPrime Minister Surayud Chulanont20–26 January1448811≈1,00052009Kuala LumpurPrime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi15–19 August1140910≈1,00062011SurakartaVice President Boediono15–20 December1138011≈1,00072014NaypyidawVice President Sai Mauk Kham14–20 January12359101,48282015President Tony Tan3–9 December15336101,18192017Kuala LumpurPrime Minister Najib Razak17–23 September16369111,452102020VariousCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic112022SurakartaVice President Ma'ruf Amin30 July–6 August14455111,248122023Phnom PenhPrime Minister Hun Sen3–9 June14439111,453132025Nakhon RatchasimaPrince Chalermsuk Yugala20-26 January19536101,606142027Future event152029Future event162031Future event

List of sports Nineteen different sports have been part of the ASEAN Para Games in one point or another. Sixteen of which comprised the schedule of the recent 2017 ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur. The games saw the return of sailing as a full medal sport once again after its debut at the 2009 ASEAN Games in Kuala Lumpur. Core sports Athletics (since 2001) Powerlifting (since 2003) Judo (2005-2008, since 2022) Chess (since 2005) Target sports Archery (2008-2017, 2022, 2025) Cycling (2017, 2025) Target shooting (2008, 2015, 2025) Wheelchair fencing (2008, 2025) Water sports Sailing (2009, 2015) Swimming (since 2001) Ball and Racquet sports Badminton (2003-2011, since 2015) Boccia (2008-2014, since 2015) Ten-pin bowling (2009-2011, 2015-2017) Five-a-side football (2014-2017, 2023) CP football (since 2014) Goalball (since 2005) Table tennis (since 2003) Wheelchair basketball (2005-2009, since 2015) Wheelchair tennis (2005-2017, 2022, 2025) Sitting volleyball (2009-2014, since 2017) Other sports Esports (2025)

All-time medal table The table below accounts for the total number of medals awarded to all participating National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) of ASEAN member countries as of the recent 2025 ASEAN Para Games.

ASEAN Para Games

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