Cambodian athletes face money woes ahead of Asiad
Cambodian athletes face money woes ahead of Asiad
By Ker Munthit
PHNOM PENH (AP): Cambodian boxer Hem Sokhet dreams of winning gold as he trains for the upcoming Asian Games, but the reality of hungry mouths to feed at home keeps him away from the practice he so desperately needs.
Instead of working out with his trainers at Phnom Penh's dilapidated Olympic Stadium -- a relic of the relatively prosperous 1960s -- the 23-year-old boxer often finds himself hefting sacks of produce onto his muscled shoulders and loading them into trucks bound for countryside markets.
Cambodia ranks as one of the poorest of the 43 nations expected to compete in December at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok. A regional recession and continuing political instability after a national election in July have compounded the Cambodian team's financial difficulties.
Training facilities are woefully inadequate -- the boxing team doesn't even have its own ring to practice in -- and athletes rarely receive promised financial support.
"I have not gotten any payment for the last six months. It is supposed to be US$90 a month," Hem Sokhet said, blaming his team's money problems on Cambodia's bickering political factions.
Hem Sokhet has a wife and a young son to support. He and other boxers often skip training sessions to raise money for their families, their Cuban coach Lorenzo Moinelo Horejon lamented.
Cambodian promoters for the Asian Games have identified boxing as among the nation's best hopes for medals.
"Cambodia has good athletes, but where is the money?" Horejon said.
The coach wanted to send the team to the World Junior Boxing Championships in Argentina next month to give his fighters a taste of top international competition, but the Cambodian National Olympic Committee is having enough problems raising cash for the short trip to Bangkok.
Meas Sarin, secretary general of the Olympic Committee, said the government has not responded to his proposal to send 36 athletes to the games on a shoestring budget of $92,800.
The Cambodian soccer squad should bring the nation's athlete total to 44. The more popular, and therefore better-funded sport, has a separate budget from the rest of the team.
Meas Sarin said he doubts the cash-strapped government will approve the entire budget. If cuts are made and he cannot find commercial sponsors to make up the difference, the team will shrink accordingly.
Money problems have already sunk the Cambodian basketball team's hopes to compete in Bangkok. The fledgling squad did not even make it onto the budget request.
Meas Sarin said the level of competition at the Asian Games may be too high to hold hopes that any Cambodians will reach the podium.
"If you want to win medals, you have to take time to prepare," he said. "Good athletes begin their training at a young age -- at about 10 years old -- but in Cambodia we have just started our sports activities."