However, youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh said Johor will only host the football event, as agreed earlier, Bernama reported.

She said Johor has the best football infrastructure and pitches in the country, such as the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, where M-League champions JDT play their home matches.

“The ministry has received confirmation of Johor becoming a co-host of the 2027 SEA Games for football and this is good news.

“If we talk about football infrastructure and fields as well as stadiums (in this country), none can hold a candle to those available in Johor.

“So, this is an opportunity for us to showcase the football infrastructure available in Johor to the SEA Games participants,” she was quoted as saying.

She also said there will be no more additions to the list of states co-hosting the games.

It was previously reported that Johor regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim had consented to the state co-hosting the football event at the 2027 SEA Games.

Yeoh said an organising committee meeting will be held in January to discuss matters related to the hosting of the biennial multi-sport event.

“At the meeting, we will discuss the types of sports to be contested,” she told reporters after attending a MyLadies ESports programme organised by her ministry in Kuala Lumpur today.

She also said the MyLadies ESports programme is set to be a platform to unearth e-sports talent among women.

She hopes that the hosting of the programme can narrow the huge gap that currently exists between men and women e-sports athletes.

“The ministry will continue to support such development programmes to unearth new talent in the e-sports arena,” she said.