Cambodia officially withdraws all athletes from SEA Games 33

After many security concerns, the Cambodian sports delegation has decided to withdraw from the 33rd SEA Games, as the border conflict between them and Thailand shows no signs of cooling down.

Cambodian sports delegation at the opening ceremony - Photo: KHAOSOD

Information regarding the Cambodian delegation's decision was published by the Khaosod newspaper, provided by Mr. Chaipak Siriwat, Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand (NOCT) and Chairman of the SEA Games 33 organizing committee.

Accordingly, Mr. Vath Chamroeun, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC), informed Mr. Siriwat about the decision to withdraw from the 33rd SEA Games.

In late November, the National Olympic Committee (NOCC) made a decision to significantly reduce the number of athletes participating in the SEA Games. Specifically, they withdrew all athletes from nine sports due to security concerns in Thailand.

Despite this reduction, 137 members of the Cambodian sports delegation still traveled to Thailand for the SEA Games, with approximately half of them already in Thailand in recent days.

The first group of athletes even arrived in Thailand after the conflict broke out between the two countries, on the morning of December 8.

The organizers of the 33rd SEA Games subsequently pledged to ensure the absolute security of Cambodian athletes. This included deploying police to closely monitor each of the national teams at all times.

There were 30 athletes marching in the opening ceremony of the 33rd SEA Games. Overall, they had no problems after 2 days of activities in Thailand.

However, concerns are rising as Thailand continues its attacks on Cambodia. Parents of Cambodian athletes worry that if the conflict escalates further, their children will not be able to return home.

Immediately after the opening ceremony ended, at dawn this morning, Mr. Chamroen informed the delegation of this concern, then held a meeting.

Ultimately, NOCC decided to withdraw all its athletes from the SEA Games. They plan to submit the official application to the organizing committee at 11:00 AM today and bring the athletes home on December 13th.

"He (Mr. Chamroen) apologized for the incident and had to withdraw all athletes from the 33rd SEA Games. The current schedule only affects karate, as two events did not have enough participating athletes. However, the organizing committee has decided to proceed with all events regardless of the circumstances," said Mr. Siriwat.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/campuchia-chinh-thuc-rut-toan-bo-vdv-khoi-sea-games-33-20251210092839774.htm