The Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) executive board has approved the programme for SEA Games 34, scheduled for Malaysia from 18 to 29 September 2027. The Games will feature 473 medal events across 43 sports, 100 events and 7 sports fewer than SEA Games 33 in Thailand in 2025. According to Bongda24h, 8 sports that earned Vietnam 24 golds last time have been dropped entirely, and counting events removed from other sports, the total reaches about 30 golds.
The 8 missing sports
Vietnam's gold medals at SEA Games 33 in sports that will not be held in Malaysia, compiled by KBVN+ from Bongda24h figures:
| Sport dropped | Vietnam golds at SEA Games 33 |
|---|---|
| Wrestling | 10 |
| Rowing | 4 |
| Canoeing | 2 |
| Traditional boat racing | 2 |
| Kickboxing | 2 |
| Chess | 2 |
| Jujitsu | 1 |
| Women's handball | 1 |
| Total | 24 |
Wrestling is the hardest hit: champions such as Can Tat Du, Nguyen Huu Dinh, Pham Nhu Duy, Nguyen Thi My Hanh and Nguyen Thi My Linh will have no title to defend. The three boat sports together account for 8 golds.
Events cut from surviving sports
Several of Vietnam's strongest events are also gone. Women's futsal, in which Vietnam won gold for the first time at SEA Games 33, is out, as is athletics' mixed 4x400m relay, where Vietnam took gold in a Games record. Wushu keeps only taolu routines, dropping sanda combat, which brought Vietnam 2 golds. Fencing loses men's épée, and shooting drops 4 team events, including women's 10m air pistol and women's 25m sport pistol.
What it means for Vietnam
The 8 dropped sports alone represent 24 of Vietnam's 87 golds in 2025, or 27.6%. With the other removed events, about 30 golds are affected, more than a third of the previous haul. Bongda24h stresses that these are medals won last time, not golds Vietnam is certain to lose in 2027.
Wrestling, rowing and canoeing are all Olympic sports. Vietnam's Olympic Committee had proposed adding wrestling, jujitsu and vovinam, without success. Instead, 5 sports join the programme: dancesport, ice hockey, kabaddi, padel and teqball, which Malaysia says were assessed under SEAGF rules and member participation.
What comes next
The Games will be spread across 4 clusters: Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Penang and Johor. With the programme fixed at the end of October 2026, delegations have almost 11 months to adjust their preparations before the opening on 18 September 2027. For Vietnam, the task is finding golds elsewhere to make up the shortfall.