Cambodian athletes will compete next month at the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, but National Olympic Committee officials said Thursday some of the team members had left as early as last week to benefit from training facilities unavailable in Cam-bodia.
Prum Bunyi, chief of the Cabinet of the National Olympic Committee, said 39 of the 158 participating in the SEA games were sent to Vietnam last week because Cambodia does not have the facilities to train them properly in their disciplines—wrestling, boating, shooting, pingpong and badminton. “We don’t have the standard sports fields for the men to train, and when they are in Vietnam they can adapt to the sports fields,” he said.
The Vietnamese government has agreed to pay for the athletes’ transportation, food and lodging and also will provide them with training staff, Prum Bunyi said.
In addition to lacking good facilities, Prum Bunyi said the athletes also have been denied access to Phnom Penh’s Olympic Stadium, which is at the center of a political controversy.
In 2000, a private business group—the Yunta Group—paid the government $3.6 million to renovate the stadium in exchange for permission to develop the surrounding area.
Calling its work completed, the company has urged the Ministry of Education to resume control of the stadium. So far, the Ministry has been refused, saying the renovations are not complete. Funcinpec and CPP officials have blamed each other repeatedly for entering the contract.
However, Secretary of State Bou Chum Serei said Thursday the Education Ministry is likely to reclaim the stadium.
“Our committee examined the stadium facilities and we agreed to accept the stadium,” he said.
While political quarreling has prevented the athletes from training at the Olympic Stadium, Prum Bunyi is not discouraged about the Cambodians’ chances in the games. “We always hope we will receive more medals but we can’t anticipate how many,” he said.
