Southeast Asian Games sports

This is a list of sports played in the biennial Southeast Asian Games. Unlike the Olympic games, there are no official limits to the number of sports which may be contested, and the range may be decided by the organising host pending approval by the Southeast Asian Games Federation. Albeit for some core sports which must be featured, the host is also free to introduce other sports. Over time, this has meant as much as 43 sports in the 24th edition of the games, and the programme has included relatively obscure sports such as arnis, finswimming and pétanque.

History

The Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, as the Southeast Asian Games was then known, was first held in Bangkok in 1959 with 12 sports, namely aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, football, shooting, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, and weightlifting. All of these events are Olympic sports, and most are considered core sports which are compulsory in all editions of the games.

Sports

The following sports (or disciplines of a sport) are part of the current program or were contested before, and are listed alphabetically according to the name used by the IOC. The figures in each cell indicate the number of events for each sport contested at the respective Games; a bullet (•) denotes that the sport was contested as a demonstration sport. A "Y" is used to indicate that a sport was played but the number of events is not yet established.

Six of the sports consist of multiple disciplines. Disciplines from the same sport are grouped under the same colour:

     Aquatics –      Cycling –      Football –      Gymnastics –      Volleyball –      Equestrian –      Wrestling

Sport (Discipline)		Body	59	61	65	67	69	71	73	75	77	79	81	83	85	87	89	91	93	95	97	99	01	03	05	07	09	11	13	15
Diving		FINA			4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10	10	8	8	8	8
Open water swimming																												4
Swimming			6	13	24	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	32	32	32	38	32	38
Synchronised swimming																							Y					5		3
Water polo					1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	2
BMX		UCI																									-	2	2
Mountain biking																									4	4	4	4	5
Road cycling			3	3	10	13	8																		5	4	4	5	6	6
Track cycling																									3	11	-	7
Football		FIFA	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	1
Futsal																										2	-	2	2
Artistic		FIG																							13	13		14		14
Rhythmic																									5	6		1		2
Aerobic																									4	4		2
Volleyball (beach)		FIVB																							2	2	2	2	-
Volleyball (indoor)			1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2							2	2	2	2	2	2
Dressage		FEI																								2		2	2	2
Eventing																										2		2	2
Jumping																									2	2		2	2	2
Freestyle		FILA																							5	9	10	10	14
Greco-Roman																											8	7	7
Archery		FITA									12	12	12	12	12	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	8	8	8	10	10	10
Arnis																		●							6
Athletics		IAAF	28	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	42	45	45	46	47	46
Badminton		BWF	2	5	7	5	5	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	5	7
Baseball																									1	1	-	1
Basketball		FIBA	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2		2		2	2	2
Billiards/Snooker																									13	12	10	10	12	1-
Bodybuilding																									6	5	-	-	5
Bowling																									10	11		10		10
Boxing		AIBA	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	14	17	15	14	14	11
Bridge			-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	-
Canoe/kayak (flatwater)		ICF																							7	12		15	16	17
Chess																									8	-	-	9	18
Chinlone																													8
Dancesport																									2	10
Fencing		FIE																							12	12		12		12
Finswimming		CMAS																									16	16	-
Floorball		IFF																											●	2
Golf																									4	4	4	4	4	4
Handball		IHF																								2
Hockey		FIH																								2			2	2
Judo		IJF																							8	16	18	16	18	12
Karate	17px																								18	18	17	16	17
Kenpō																									-	-	-	16	18
Lawn bowls																										6
Modern pentathlon		UIPM																									-	-
Muay																									7	11	13	-	14
Netball		INF																												1
Paragliding			-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
Pencak silat																									12	13	17	18	15	13
Petanque																									4	9	11	6	11	10
Polo																										1	-	-
Roller sport			-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
Rowing		FISA																							9	11		11	9	18
Rugby Union/Sevens						1				1	1															2				2
Sailing		ISAF																							12	17		9	13	20
Sepak takraw																									4	8	8	6	10	10
Shooting		ISSF	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	22	33	34	14	12	26
Shuttlecock kicking																											7	-
Soft tennis			-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
Softball																									2	2		1		2
Sport climbing			-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
Squash																									2	1				5
Table tennis		ITTF	1	1	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7	7	7	5	4	7
Taekwondo		WTF																							16	16	21	21	21	15
Tennis		ITF	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	7	7	7	7		7
Traditional boat race																	4	4						4	6	4		10	17	8
Triathlon		ITU																							2	4				2
Waterskiing																Y					Y							11		11
Weightlifting		IWF																							10	13	13	14	11
Vovinam																									-	-	-	14	18
Wushu																									22	14	21	20	23	20
Total events																											372	543	461	402

Non-Olympic sports

The Southeast Asian Games features numerous non-Olympic sports in its programme, reflecting the popularity of some sports to the region, or as a means of introducing more obscure sports to the region and beyond. Some sports dropped from the Olympic programme may still be retained in the SEAG, although the games does not feature all of the Olympic sports, often in favour of the traditional ones.

Sport	Common in	Introduced	Remarks
Baseball		2005 (Philippines)	Former Olympic sport, also in Asian Games
Billiards and snooker		1991 (Philippines)	Also in Asian Games, East Asian Games
Bodybuilding		1987 (Indonesia)	Also in Asian Games
Bowling		1975 (Thailand)	Also in Asian Games, Asian Youth Games, East Asian Games, Pan American Games, Special Olympics World Games, West Asian Games, World Games
Chess		2003 (Vietnam)	Also in Asian Games
Dancesport		2005 (Philippines)	Also in Asian Games, East Asian Games
Finswimming		2003 (Vietnam)
Futsal		2007 (Thailand)	Also in Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
Golf		1987 (Indonesia)	Former Olympic sport, also in Asian Games
Karate		1987 (Indonesia)	Also in Asian Games, East Asian Games, South Asian Games, West Asian Games
Lawn bowls		1999 (Brunei)
Petanque		2001 (Malaysia)
Polo		2007 (Thailand)	Former Olympic sport
Rugby union		1967 (Thailand)	Former Olympic sport, also in Asian Games, East Asian Games
Softball		1979 (Indonesia)	Former Olympic sport, also in Asian Games
Squash		1991 (Philippines)	Also in Asian Games, East Asian Games, South Asian Games, West Asian Games
Traditional boat race		1993 (Singapore)	Also in Asian Games, Asian Beach Games, East Asian Games
Waterskiing		1987 (Indonesia)
Wushu		1991 (Philippines)	Also in Asian Games, East Asian Games, South Asian Games

Traditional sports

Sport	Common in	Introduced	Remarks
Arnis		1991 (Philippines)	Unique to SEAG
Muay		2005 (Philippines)	Unique to SEAG
Pencak silat		1987 (Indonesia)	Unique to SEAG
Sepak takraw		1965 (Malaysia)	Also in Asian Games
Shuttlecock kicking		2003 (Vietnam)	Unique to SEAG
Vovinam		2011 (Indonesia)	Unique to SEAG
Chinlone		2013 (Myanmar)	Unique to SEAG