2021 Southeast Asian Games

According to Hanoi's proposal submitted to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), the city would spend 1.7 trillion VND ($77 million) on preparing and organizing the 2-week Games running from late November to December. 97 billion VND ($4.3 million) is expected to be earned back from broadcast rights, advertisements, sponsors and other contributions.[6]

In December 2017, Ho Chi Minh City Municipal Standing Committee of the Communist Party approved of the city's hosting proposal. According to the proposal, the direct cost for hosting the Games in the city is estimated to be 7.48 trillion VND ($330 million) with 6.6 trillion VND (US$290 million) to be spent on upgrading sports facilities and 904 billion VND ($40 million) on organizing costs. However, another 8.2 trillion VND ($360 million) is needed for the construction of Rach Chiec Sports Complex while an athletes' village will not be built. The Games would run for 12 days in mid August and see 30-36 sports being contested. The provinces of Đồng Nai and Bình Dương would also host a portion of Games.[7]

On 9 July 2018, the Vietnamese government selected Hanoi as the host of the 31st SEA Games and the 2022 ASEAN Para Games. On 13 November 2019, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc signed a decision approving Hanoi hosting the Games. Despite the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics in July 2021, the games will still be held from late November to early December 2021 three months after the rescheduled Olympics. The 11th ASEAN Para Games will also be held from 17–23 December, 2021. Vietnam Television and Voice of Vietnam were appointed as the host broadcaster.[8]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam's budget for the Games was cut.[10] The total budget allocated by the Vietnamese government for this edition of SEA Games was estimated to be 1.6 trillion VND (69.3 million USD). 980.3 billion VND (42.3 million USD) would be used for organizing costs while 602.3 billion VND (25.9 million USD) would be allocated for upgrades and repairs to facilities managed by MCST.[11] Provincial authorities are responsible for renovations to facilities under their management. Other than a new cycling track in Hòa Bình Province and a small tennis complex on Hanoi Sports Training and Competition Centre campus (handled by Hanoi People's Committee), no other sporting venue will be constructed for the edition.[11]

Organization revenue is expected to be 226.6 billion VND (9.7 million USD), with 136.6 billion VND coming from the delegates' accommodation fees and 65 billion VND from broadcast rights.[11]

While Hanoi will be the main hub, several other surrounding provinces will also assist in hosting portions of the games. An athletes' village will not be built, athletes and officials will be housed in hotels near their competition venues. In the initial plan, a new tennis complex was planned to be built on Hanoi Sports Training and Competition Centre campus and a newly rebuilt Hàng Đẫy Stadium will host a group for men's football. Both of these projects faced development delays and difficulties and could no longer be completed on time for the games.[12] Consequently, the venue of tennis has been proposed to be relocated to Bắc Ninh Province, and Việt Trì Stadium is being considered to host a men's football group alongside Thiên Trường Stadium during the group stage.[13]

My Dinh National Stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies along with men's football and athletics events

Thiên Trường Stadium will host a portion of men's football competitions

Quần Ngựa Sports Palace will host all gymnastics events

All 11 members of Southeast Asian Games Federation are expected to take part in the 2021 SEA Games. Below is a list of all the participating NOCs.

The 31st SEA Games will feature 40 sports, mainly those played at the Olympic Games.[15][16]

On 30 August 2019, Vietnam Olympic Committee launched a nationwide contest to find the official logo, mascot, slogan, and song for both 31st SEA Games and 2021 ASEAN Para Games. The contest ran until 30 October 2019. The top 3 in each category were intended to be featured on a ballot and Vietnamese nationals could then vote for the winning creation.[17] On 20 October 2019, a mascot named after the canine character Vàng in Nam Cao's famous short story Lão Hạc was awarded People's Choice Award by the organizer.[18] On 26 October 2019, the final top 3 mascots, selected by an internal panel, were announced. These mascots took inspirations from various Vietnamese animals: the endangered species saola, the mythical creature "con nghê", and tigers. These selected designs were met with overwhelmingly negative perception by the Vietnamese public. Many called the designs "dated", "aesthetically unpleasant" and "not representative of the Vietnamese spirit." The organizer later withdrew the announcement, stated that the designs were preliminary and they would undergo further adjustments.[19] Consequently, the original date for announcing the winning submissions on 31 October failed to be realized. The reveal was then postponed to November 2019, and then again postponed indefinitely afterwards.[20]

On 19 November 2020, the winning entries were finally announced.[21] No theme song was selected from the contest. The organizing committee decided to order composer Quang Vinh, who previously penned the theme song Vì một thế giới ngày mai for the 22nd SEA Games in 2003, to write a new theme song for the edition.[22]

The 31st SEA Games logo was designed by Hoàng Xuân Hiếu. Hiếu's logo is inspired by the combined images of a dove and a human hand to create the "V" shape,[23] representing "victory" and "Vietnam".

Sao La is the official mascot of the 31st SEA Games

The mascot of the 2021 Southeast Asian Games is Sao La, inspired by saola – a rare mammal native to central Vietnam. This design by Ngô Xuân Khôi defeated 557 other mascot submissions to emerge as the winner of the 2019 searching contest.[21]

"For a Stronger South East Asia" was chosen to be the motto of this edition. The motto represents Vietnam's hope, as ASEAN Chair 2020, for the region to grow stronger, and signifies the region's strive to tackle and defeat the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.