Eight more sports have confirmed their withdrawal from the Thailand SEA Games starting on December 9, citing security reasons.
Football, judo, karate, pencak silat, petanque, wrestling, wushu and sepaktakraw are the sports that have confirmed their withdrawal from the biennial Games.
The withdrawal comes just a couple of days after Cambodia had confirmed that they would send a 332-strong delegation, contesting in 21 sports. The Games offers a total of 574 events across 50 sports.
National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) secretary general Vath Chamroen in a letter dated today and addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of the South East Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) Datuk Seri Chaiyapak Siriwat, confirmed the reduction of the Cambodian contingent to just 13 sports.
In the letter he had said that the adjustment has been made due to significant security concerns, which poses challenges to ensuring the safety and protection of the Kingdom’s athletes and officials.
National Muay exponents and billiards had withdrawn earlier last week citing security reasons as well as national dignity.
The 13 sports which are expected to make the trip are swimming, athletics, Esports, fencing, gymnastics, Ju-jitsu, kickboxing, taekwondo, equestrian, jetski, triathlon, teqball and volleyball.
“Despite this necessary reduction, Cambodia remains committed in the sports where conditions allow safe involvement,” Chamroen had indicated.
The letter, however, did not address on exactly why security was not an issue for the continued participation of the 13 sports.
While the participation of the Cambodian contingent at the Games was approved by the government, the public’s opinion has been generally against the participation.
While some still support the participation, a majority have indicated that Cambodia should boycott the Games to preserve national dignity.
The re-ignited tension between Cambodia and Thailand recently has only ruffled people’s sentiment in the matter.
The Games is already facing numerous challenges including their decision earlier today to relocate all 10 sports events to be held in Songkhla to Bangkok due to flooding disaster in the province.
The organisers are running against time to find new venues to accommodate the relocation.
