Thailand sues Cambodia for 'ambiguous' naturalization at SEA Games

The controversy surrounding Cambodia's "100% naturalized" team at the 33rd SEA Games is heating up as Thai officials and sports media begin to apply pressure.

One of Cambodia's naturalized triathletes - Photo: HCMCR

"For the first time in SEA Games history, there is a team with 100% naturalized athletes," commented Thailand's Today newspaper, after shocking information about Cambodia's triathlon team was revealed.

This information was provided by Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand (NOCT) - Mr. Chaipak Siriwat, saying that all 11/11 Cambodian triathlon athletes participated in the 33rd SEA Games.

At the 32nd SEA Games held in Cambodia, the host country shocked everyone by introducing French-born athlete Margot Garabedian. It should be noted that Garabedian represented France to win the 2021 World Triathlon Championships in the women's individual category.

Just two years after this impressive performance, she obtained Cambodian citizenship, much to the surprise of the regional triathlon community.

"Garabedian, who was born and raised by French parents and grew up in France, now plays for Cambodia and ends Kim Mangrobang's championship streak," commented the Philippines' Tiebreaker newspaper after the favorite athlete (Mangrobang) lost to Garabedian at the 2023 SEA Games.

Triathlons don’t attract the same attention as soccer. So Garabedian’s case quickly faded away, and the media didn’t comment further. No one questioned (or could find out) how Garabedian got Cambodian citizenship.

Then, after 2 years, Cambodia stunned the whole region with a list of 11/11 naturalized athletes. 10 of them were of French origin, and 1 was of Chinese origin.

"They are all world-class. Some of them even ran 10km in 28-29 minutes," Wichit Sitthinavin, President of the Thai Triathlon Association, revealed another shocking piece of information.

It is worth noting that the world record for the 10km race at the World Athletics Championships is 28 minutes 55.77 seconds. And anyone who runs under 29 minutes is in the world's top 10.

French-born star Garabedian - Photo: NTT

This information has not been verified by the media. But looking at Garabedian, regional sports fans cannot refute. The fact that Cambodia has naturalized the world's top triathlon stars is an undeniable fact.

"The Thai Olympic Committee has recommended filing a protest with the International Triathlon Federation to end the process," Thai newspaper Khaosod revealed, suggesting that Thailand is likely to file a complaint.

After the Malaysian football scandal, Cambodia is now causing a public storm with a massive wave of naturalization.

And similar to the story of the 7 naturalized Malaysian soccer players, fans have not yet found any information showing any blood relationship between the naturalized stars playing for the Cambodian triathlon team.

The naturalization process of the Thai triathlon stars is truly a mystery, and may create a wave of fierce controversy at the upcoming SEA Games.

The triathlon event at the 33rd SEA Games took place from December 16 to 19 in Chonburi province, with a total of 11 sets of medals.

In Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are the powerhouses in triathlon. As for Cambodia, they only won their first medal thanks to naturalized athletes at the 32nd SEA Games.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thai-lan-khieu-nai-campuchia-vi-nhap-tich-mo-am-o-sea-games-20251130235720889.htm