PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) — Cambodia has withdrawn from eight sports in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand over safety concerns, an Olympic official said Thursday, as a border row between the nations simmers.
Intermittent military clashes between Cambodia and neighboring Thailand, host of the SEA Games beginning on 9 December, have erupted since earlier this year.
More than 40 people were killed during five days of combat in July.
While a truce backed by US President Donald Trump has halted most hostilities, diplomatic tensions remain.
In a letter dated Wednesday, the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) informed the Southeast Asian Games Federation that it would not participate in sports like football, sepak takraw, wushu, pencak silat, petanque, wrestling, judo and karate in the regional Games next month.
“This adjustment has been made due to significant security concerns, which poses challenges to ensuring the safety and protection of our athletes and officials,” the letter says.
NOCC secretary-general Vath Chamroeun told AFP that the decision to pull out of eight of the 21 sports that were supposed to join was “about safety,” declining to say whether it was related to the border dispute.
“The deduction of the number of athletes means it is easy for us to control,” he added.
In a Facebook post, the NOCC said Cambodia would now send 150 athletes to compete in 13 sporting events, down from 333 athletes earlier announced.
The dispute between Thailand and Cambodia centers on a century-old disagreement over borders mapped during France’s colonial rule in the region, with both sides claiming a smattering of boundary temples.
Meanwhile, Songkhla will no longer host any event of the prestigious biennial meet due to recent flooding in southern Thailand.
According to Thai newspaper, The Nation, the Thailand Southeast Asian Games Organizing stressed that around 10 sports that are scheduled to be held in Songkhla will be moved to Bangkok after the province was declared a disaster zone following heavy rainfall that left thousands stranded and at least 33 people dead.
In fact, floodwaters were running as high as six feet in some areas days after the province’s Hat Yai district received 13 inches of rain last Friday — the highest single-day rainfall in three centuries.
Songkhla was supposed to be the third site of the Games behind Bangkok and Chonburi. It’s supposed to host a couple of events, including boxing, where the Filipinos are expected to dominate.