Madam Pang's shocking verdict, will U.22 Thailand face difficulties in the race for the 33rd SEA Games gold medal?

Billionaire Nualphan Lamsam (also known as Madam Pang), President of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), confirmed that Thai League 1 will still take place in parallel with the 33rd SEA Games.

FAT's final decision on SEA Games 33

On June 6, FAT held a meeting with the participation of many senior figures of the federation. Here, Madam Pang confirmed that the Thai League 1 season 2025-2026 will continue as usual, there is no story of the highest tournament in Thailand being suspended to serve the 33rd SEA Games (taking place from December 7 to 19 in Thailand). At this time, FAT leaders are also negotiating with clubs to convince each team to provide the Thai U.22 team with 2 to 3 players. The list of players has been selected by Coach Nishigaya. In addition, FAT is considering postponing some matches in Thai League 2 and Thai League 3 of some clubs that contribute many members to the Thai U.22 team.

This could cause the Thai U.22 team to not have the strongest squad, affecting their ambition to win the SEA Games gold medal at home. In fact, FAT is very eager for the Thai U.22 team to step up to the top of Southeast Asia after 3 consecutive failures, including 2 consecutive losses in the finals (against Vietnam and Indonesia). Therefore, they proposed to suspend the Thai League but were strongly opposed by the clubs.

Madam Pang and the FAT leaders will now have to convince the clubs in Thai League 1 to agree to let the players play for the Thai U.22 team.

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

FAT lost to the clubs again

This is not the first time FAT has been "underdog" to clubs. During the 32nd SEA Games, FAT proposed to consolidate the Thai League schedule so that the tournament could end early, creating conditions for the best players to contribute to the Thai U.22 team. However, the clubs also objected because they were concerned that the tight schedule would easily overload players, leading to injuries, and in the end, the Thai League was still held as usual.

At the time, Newin Chidchob, chairman of Buriram United, was the most vocal critic. He said: "The dream of the Thai people is to see the Thai flag flying in a World Cup stadium. But in the end, we are pursuing the goal of becoming champions of a small region. This has been going on for many years.

Not caring about FIFA Days, destroying the professional tournament system to become SEA Games champions. That is the vision of amateurs, the idea of ​​someone who knows nothing about professional football. They have no plan to develop Thai football and get closer to the World Cup."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/madam-pang-phan-quyet-cuc-soc-u22-thai-lan-gap-kho-o-cuoc-dua-tranh-hcv-sea-games-33-185250606171113503.htm