Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Substantial backers

Interesting developments afoot at Preah Khan Reach, who are basking in the limelight after their Hun Sen Cup success on Sunday. It's emerged that the club has found substantial backing for the coming season from one of the new Vietnamese banks to open up offices in Phnom Penh recently, the SHB Bank, aka Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank. PKR are historically backed by the Military Police, and presumably the close ties between the armed forces and Vietnam have helped to sweeten this new sponsorship deal. Financial details hinted at suggest PKR will get $100,000 per year and a prod to engage foreign players once again. In the meantime, PKR are off to Malaysia for their first round tie against Penang AUCMS in four days time, in their first-ever venture into the Malaysian FA Cup competition. The word is that Penang, who play in the third tier in Malaysia, are up shit creek without a paddle having been relegated again and with financial woes, so PKR may just be in with a shout of success. Over at high-spending Naga Corp, who also have substantial backers in the shape of Nagaworld Hotel and entertainment hub, their team were introduced to the media recently as a part of opening celebrations for the hotel's new NagaRock. I had to smile when I read the publicity blurb that said; "As an avid supporter of youth & sports development, Nagaworld believes in inspiring the youth of Cambodia to dream big and work relentlessly towards their goals." They obviously forgot that their squad is the oldest, by a country mile, in the C-League and they've just signed four more experienced campaigners after their release from Phnom Penh Crown.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does Naga have their own practice field or youth academy?

Anonymous said...

Andy, statement from NagaWorld was meant for sports as a whole - not just for the soccer team ...NagaWorld offered support for the Cambodia SEA Games contingent as well as incentive for them to win gold and glory for the country.... besides that, there was also support for the Tennis Federation - funding their historic trip to the Davis Cup and also supporting the Cambodia Federation of Rugby as well....

Andy Brouwer said...

Anon1:49PM...I assumed it was.... but in the press release it was wrapped up in the information about the football team, so that's why it made me smile!
I know what Naga have provided for sports in general and they should be congratulated for that.

Re the 1st question Anon9:20PM, there is only 1 recognised Football Academy in Cambodia and that's at Phnom Penh Crown.

Anonymous said...

I tht PKR also has a youth team of sort and so does the police team?

Andy Brouwer said...

PKR has many age level teams but no Academy.

Andy Brouwer said...

PKR won their first game 2-1 in the Malaysian FA Cup and now meet another third-tier team in the next round on 10 March I believe.