East Timor at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games

The East Timor delegation meets with President Francisco Guterres.

During the second chefs de mission meeting at Pasay, Philippines that was organised by the Philippine South East Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) in July 2019, all countries, which are included in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, agreed to the hosting of the SEA Games at the Philippines.[4] In the meeting, Timor Leste (East Timor) was represented by Vicente C. Da Silva.[4] They proceeded to Pampanga and the New Clark City in Tarlac to examine the places where the games would be held.[4]

East Timor requested help from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for their final preparations at the SEA Games.[1] According to PHISGOC Executive Director Tom Carrasco, their request were approved by PSC Chairman William "Butch" Ramirez.[1] The PSC would assist them on their accommodations and would give them access to facilities without charge.[1]

As expected, East Timor delegation specifically the football team started to arrive as early as 23 November 2019.[5] Their arrival met with logistical problems.[5] The East Timorese football team waited around three hours for their bus to arrive and they were dropped off in a wrong hotel.[6][7] The day after the delegation's arrival, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and PHISGOC Chairman Alan Peter Cayetano personally apologised to the athletes and coaches of the participating countries including East Timor, which was affected by inconveniences that they experienced upon their arrival in the Philippines.[8][9]

On December 3, 2019, East Timor was still last place at the medal tally without winning any medals.[10] Filipino netizens noticed this and invited the public to support and cheer for East Timor echoing the SEA Games 2019 tagline, which is "We win as one!"[10][11] East Timorese delegates were very thankful for their support.[12] An official of the East Timor's federation of taekwando, Alexandrino da Costa, said that “It’s not about just winning but how we can make friendly relations between our countries through sports.”[12]

On December 8, 2019, East Timorese athlete Imbrolia De Araujo Dos Reis Amorin won bronze medal when she landed third place in the 57 kg women's division of taekwondo.[13][14] On the same day, two East Timorese boxers also won bronze namely Jose Barreto Quintas Da Silva in the flyweight division and Frederico Soares Sarmento in the light heavyweight division.[13][15][16]