Cambodia says it will sell the television rights to the 2023 SEA Games instead of broadcasting the event for free as at previous SEA Games, The Phnom Penh Post reports.

The Secretary-General of the Cambodian SEA Games Organising Committee, Vath Chamroeun, made the announcement on 13 July after an Executive Committee Meeting of the Southeast Asian Games Federation Council in Phnom Penh attended by all 10 ASEAN countries.

“All participating countries have supported the sale of the full television rights across all of our media markets, which is different than before when the event was broadcast for free,” he said.

“Cambodia is not a rich country, but we have a plan to earn income from the sale of television rights and we must find these additional sources of income to reduce the burden of hosting the games for the government.

“Thankfully, our pitch was successful and all of the countries are now celebrating this new development and planning to emulate Cambodia by selling the SEA Games television rights when they take their turn hosting the games.”

The 2023 SEA Games will take place in Phnom Penh from 5 to 16 May next year, with Cambodia hosting the event for the first time.