THE Philippine team that will compete in the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam would be composed of 560 athletes, according to Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

These athletes would be competing in 520 events in 38 of the 40 sports that will be staged in the biennial sporting meet slated on Nov. 21 to Dec. 2, 2021.

Tolentino, though, clarified that the number could still go down as these are initial entries that were taken from the talks held with the different national sports associations earlier this week.

“The basis of selection primarily hinged on those athletes who won medals (of any color) in the 2019 SEA Games that we hosted,” Tolentino said in a statement. “We also looked at events where the potential of winning the gold medal is very high, as justified by an athlete or athletes’ performance in 2019.”

The Philippines hosted the Southeast Asian Games back in 2019 and managed to field its largest ever delegation composed of a whopping 1,115 athletes.

The Vietnam organizers have set a March 21 deadline for the submission of entries by numbers. The deadline for the entries by names would be in August.

The list was presented and approved by the Philippine Olympic Committee executive board, which met on Thursday, Feb. 18 in Parañaque City. (JNP)