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."