09 Oct 2019
MANILA, 9 October 2019 – The Fifth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Sports (AMMS-5) and Related Meetings held on 7-9 October in Manila, Philippines highlighted the roles of sports in socio-cultural development.
This year, the Philippines assume its chairpersonship for the ASEAN sports sector under the theme “One Vision, One Goal, One Community: Strengthening Unity Through Sports.”
Chairing the Ministerial Meetings, Chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission William I. Ramirez said, “we need to appreciate and explore the values of sports in the world today. Sports help us listen to each other, prevent conflicts, and improve the health of human being. By playing together, children from different religious and cultural background will learn to respect each other and grow leadership skills.”
Sports Ministers and senior officials from all ASEAN Member States and Japan attended the meetings. Representatives from the ASEAN Chess Confederation, ASEAN Para Sports Federation, South East Asia Regional Anti-Doping Organization, UNESCO, UN Women, the Right to Play and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association attended the open sessions of senior officials meetings.
In preparation of ASEAN’s joint bid for the FIFA World Cup 2034, the ministers agreed to establish a dedicated Technical Working Group led by Thailand and expressed support for Indonesia’s bid to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2021.
Under the ASEAN-Japan cooperation on sports, the ministers looked forward to more joint activities, particularly in promoting the participation of women and girls in sports through the initiative of ASEAN-Japan Actions on Sports. In light of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the ministers expressed their strong support for ASEAN athletes competing in the Games.
Sports has long been heralded in ASEAN as one of the most effective instruments in bringing about friendship, development, peace and integration. In ensuring sports’ contribution to achieving the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the Sports Ministers agreed on the emerging priorities for the Post-2020 direction of ASEAN sports development, namely, sports for social development and peace, sports integrity, sports for all, sports science, sports tourism and sports industry.
