Thai newspaper points out more problems in the organization of SEA Games 33

(Dan Tri) - Thai media has criticized the country's organization of the SEA Games after many incidents occurred, especially allowing fans to take advantage of the situation to promote betting on television.

" Winning a gold medal is difficult, but keeping face and building trust as a host country can be even more difficult!", Siam Sport newspaper commented on December 4 about the organization of the 33rd SEA Games, which had many "mistakes" by the Sports Authority of Thailand and the Organizing Committee (OC) of the largest sports tournament in Southeast Asia.

Thai fans cheered enthusiastically for their team in the opening men's football match on December 3 (Photo: FA Thailand).

Although the SEA Games are only a few days away from opening, many incidents have occurred that have affected the reputation of the host country, Thailand. On December 3, at the flag-raising ceremony before the match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Laos, there was a sound problem that prevented the national anthems of the two countries from being played, leading to the players having to sing the national anthem a cappella.

Previously, the U22 Vietnam team also encountered a serious traffic jam on the way from the hotel to the training ground, causing the whole team to be unable to fully implement the training plan due to lack of time.

Notably, on December 2, the official social networking site of the 33rd SEA Games also made a serious mistake when it displayed the Thai flag as the Vietnamese flag, and the Indonesian flag as the Lao flag in the futsal competition schedule.

Most recently, when broadcasting live the opening match between U22 Thailand and U22 Timor Leste, the camera accidentally showed a group of fans sitting in the stands openly advertising for betting websites.

"The appearance of a group of fans wearing scarves and blatantly advertising betting websites during live television broadcasts is another "wound" for which Thai sports must take responsibility.

Allowing the use of sports event images as an illegal and unethical marketing tool without any ban further highlights the "laxity" in monitoring order," Siam Sport newspaper angrily criticized the organization of the 33rd SEA Games Organizing Committee.

The Thai newspaper also emphasized: "This is just the beginning. What chaos will appear after the official opening ceremony? Will these problems be resolved, or will they escalate into an epic story, marking this hosting season as the "worst SEA Games"?

Hosting the SEA Games is an important opportunity to showcase the country's potential, but it seems Thailand is constantly "creating content" that is being criticized.

Director General of the Sports Authority of Thailand Gongsak Yodmani (Photo: MGR).

Notably, on December 4, the 33rd SEA Games Organizing Committee sent a letter to the Olympic Committees of Vietnam and Laos, to apologize and accept responsibility for the incident with the national anthem in the opening match of the men's football tournament of the two countries.

In an interview on Thai television, Mr. Gongsak Yodmani, Director General of the Sports Department of Thailand, affirmed that the incident was completely a "technical error".

"The sound management staff of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) said everything was normal during the inspection. When the match started, the staff could still listen through headphones normally, but the loudspeaker system in the stadium did not play music. They did not have time to fix the problem because the match needed to start on time," Mr. Gongsak said about the incident.

According to Mr. Gongsak Yodmani, SEA Games 33 has more than 50 sports and member federations are assigned to manage the organization of competitions, prepare facilities and techniques. For football, the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) is responsible.

In addition to the apology letter sent to Vietnam and Laos, Director Gongsak also wrote a letter to FAT to request a review and ensure that similar incidents will not occur at the 33rd SEA Games.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-thai-lan-chi-ra-them-su-co-trong-khau-to-chuc-sea-games-33-20251204221616609.htm