Tuesday, October 17, 2006

After the Hun Sen schools, the Hun Sen bridges, parks, roads, latrines, corruption, nepotism, landgrabbing etc... now come the Hun Sen cup

Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Football Championship To Be Renamed for PM

By Kay Kimsong
THE CAMBODIA DAILY


Cambodia's Premier League football championship in 2007 will be renamed the Samdech Hun Sen Cup, the Cambodian Football Federation announced Saturday.

Dates and sponsorship for the $200,000, 36-team tournament have yet to be finalized but the CFF is currently negotiating with MobiTel as well as ANZ Royal and Union Commercial Bank, according to Sao Sokha, national military commander and the elected CFF president.

"I was the one who had the idea to request a trophy named after Samdech [Prime Minister] Hun Sen," Sao Sokha said, adding that Hun Sen was himself once a football player. "Samdech has been supportive of football because all Cambodian people would get involved," he said, adding that the cup will provide an opportunity to develop Cambodia's sporting sector.

Sao Sokha made the remarks at a press conference at Olympic Stadium where he officially received new national team uniforms supplied as a gift from the British retailer JJB Sports.

MobiTel chairman Kith Meng on Monday said his firm and the CTN television network, which he also owns, have agreed "in principle" to support the tournament.

Both Sao Sokha and Funcinpec's Khek Ravy, who was ousted as CFF president in April, refused to answer questions about the controversy surrounding the disputed CFF presidency.

The Federation Internationale de Football Association had threatened to sanction Cambodia after Sao Sokha replaced Khek Ravy in a CFF election that FIFA claimed was tainted by "political influence."

FIFA recently announced that it does not recognize Sao Sokha as CFF president although Sao Sokha said Sept 7 that he retains the presidency.

"We have to help ourselves before asking for help from others," Sao Sokha told reporters.

"I have nothing to say about FIFA"

Khek Ravy told a reporter at the press conference that matters would soon be clarified.

"I and General Sao Sokha will hold a press conference to talk about the FIFA issue," he said, though he did not elaborate.
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's the hell is that!

I just can't wait to see the temple of Unalom in Phnom Penh to be changed to 'Wat Unalom Hun Sen'.

There is a tale from Cambodia that Hun Sen would love his name combined with any titles of institutions or organisation in Cambodia, except one primary school in the village Phum-Dereichharn in Kampong Chhnang. Even though this school has been assisted by Hun Sen's subordiantes, but that school has been ordered not to name Hun Sen as a postfix, for example, Sala-Phum-Dereichharn-Hun-Sen. That would sound far much better.

Anonymous said...

REMEMBER SIHANOUK IN THE 60'S ,HE WAS BRANDED AS THE FATHER OF NATONAL SPORT,EDUCATION,HEALTH, PEACE ,INDEPNDENCE,AGRICULTURE,
ETC...AND MANY KHMER INSTITUTIONS WERE NAMED AFTER HIM TOO.
NOW, IT IS HUN SEN'S TURN ,BUT HE WILL HAVE HIS DOWN DAY AS SIHANOUK.
BOTH SIHANOUK AND HUN SEN ARE GREEDY ,THEY STOLE THEIR PEOPLE MONEY TO BUILT SOMETHING AND PUT THEIR NAME.

Anonymous said...

Sounding like the attempt to justify Hun Sen's politics in comparison to Sihanouk's. That's fair enough! they are both greedy with people's money.

Look, even though Sihanouk is never considered as a good leader, he is still far much better than Hun Sen.