Foreign investments

Foreign sponsorship in Cambodian football continues unabated. In July 2009, the Cambodian football federation (FFC) joined forces with Vietnamese mobile telephone supplier Metfone in a sponsorship deal worth $1.5million over three years - that deal ends this year. For their money, Metfone got their name on the Cambodian Premier League as the exclusive sponsor as well as partnerships for the other competitions run by the federation. Before that, the FFC was bankrolled by a South Korean technology company. We wait to hear who will be the league's sponsors for next season. In the meantime, the FFC have announced a new sponsor, this time for the Cambodian national team, namely Thailand's largest sports equipment company called FBT (Football Thai Factory Sporting Goods), who will provide sponsorship to the tune of $65,000 a year for the next 4 years. Presumably they'll also chuck in a few new playing strips and tracksuits as part of the package. Isn't it sad that the Cambodian national team is sponsored by a private Thai company. That would suggest Cambodian companies have yet to be convinced that football is a worthwhile vehicle for their sponsorship dollars, or that the FFC have chosen to look outside the country's boundaries for their cash. Continuing the theme of sponsorship from outside the country, Preah Khan Reach have just announced a $100,000, one-year deal with a Vietnamese bank. The Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) have decided to throw their weight behind the military police-backed club with money that will be used, according to the club's secretary, to buy equipment, food and to double the wages of the coach and his team.

PKR officials with their new sponsors including PKR's coach in blue