General Sao Sokha (Photo: RFA)Cambodia sidelines foreign players for being "too good"
By Ek Madra
PHNOM PENH, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Cambodia has banned foreign players from taking part in its cup competition for being "too good", the country's soccer chief said on Friday.
Most of the 30 teams competing in the Hun Sen Cup -- named after the country's long-serving prime minister -- favoured the ban because they had an unfair advantage over local players, said Sao Sokha, chairman of the Cambodian Football Federation.
"They're taller, stronger and more experienced, so it's unfair if we let them play," Sao Sokha told Reuters. "They're too good compared with Cambodian players."
The ruling means North Korean, Nigerian and Brazilian imports will have to sit it out until May before the new league season begins.
Sao Sokha said the ban did not violate FIFA rules and that it was the wish of the country's powerful premier to develop local soccer talent.
"We are not discriminating against foreigners, but the prime minister wants to give our Khmer players a chance to win and to gain some national pride," said Sao Sokha, also Cambodia's military police chief and a close associate of Hun Sen.
Hun Sen has offered $10,000 of his own money to the winning team with prizes of $5,000 for the runners up.
Coach Los Salakhan, whose team Khemara won last year's Cambodian Premier League with the help of Brazilian and North Korean players, said he had to accept the decision.
"If they let them play then they play, if not they just stand and watch the game," he told Reuters, adding that his North Korean players had not kicked a ball since December and had already left the country.
Cash-strapped Cambodia is one of South East Asia's least successful soccer nations and are currently 176th in the FIFA rankings.
They failed to reach this year's ASEAN championships after finishing behind minnows Laos and the Philippines in the pre-qualifying tournament.
Most of the 30 teams competing in the Hun Sen Cup -- named after the country's long-serving prime minister -- favoured the ban because they had an unfair advantage over local players, said Sao Sokha, chairman of the Cambodian Football Federation.
"They're taller, stronger and more experienced, so it's unfair if we let them play," Sao Sokha told Reuters. "They're too good compared with Cambodian players."
The ruling means North Korean, Nigerian and Brazilian imports will have to sit it out until May before the new league season begins.
Sao Sokha said the ban did not violate FIFA rules and that it was the wish of the country's powerful premier to develop local soccer talent.
"We are not discriminating against foreigners, but the prime minister wants to give our Khmer players a chance to win and to gain some national pride," said Sao Sokha, also Cambodia's military police chief and a close associate of Hun Sen.
Hun Sen has offered $10,000 of his own money to the winning team with prizes of $5,000 for the runners up.
Coach Los Salakhan, whose team Khemara won last year's Cambodian Premier League with the help of Brazilian and North Korean players, said he had to accept the decision.
"If they let them play then they play, if not they just stand and watch the game," he told Reuters, adding that his North Korean players had not kicked a ball since December and had already left the country.
Cash-strapped Cambodia is one of South East Asia's least successful soccer nations and are currently 176th in the FIFA rankings.
They failed to reach this year's ASEAN championships after finishing behind minnows Laos and the Philippines in the pre-qualifying tournament.
2 comments:
IS HE LOOK CAMBODIAN?
IS HE FROM FLOTING VILAGE!
He is from Svay Reang! You should know who is Khmer and who is not if you are yourself Khmer, you stupid dumb fuck!
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