I would love to be top scorer

PPCFC have completed the deadline-day signing of striker Run Rany, who has joined the club from Western. Rany was the third highest Cambodian-born goalscorer in the Metfone C-League last season, with 8 goals in what was his first season with Western. Earlier this year, Rany scored against Crown in Western’s 3-1 victory at RSN Stadium, with a thunderbolt drive from 25 yards. Twenty-seven-year-old Rany (5/6/1989) was born in Phnom Penh and attended Preah Yukanthor High School, playing his early football with Kang Reach Sey and the National Defense Ministry U-19s. Following a break from football, he joined Build Bright United in the Cambodian League in 2012 for two seasons. After a year with the now-defunct Albirex Niigata, he spent 2015 with CMAC, captaining them in most of their games before his move to Western. Married with one daughter, he has also played regularly for futsal team Rolling FC for the last four years. “I’ve wanted to join PPCFC for the past couple of years, so today is a very happy day for me and I promise to do the best I can for my teammates, the club and the fans,” said the striker who will wear jersey number 18. “I am very pleased to be joining this great club and my aim is to score as many goals as possible - I would love to be the top scorer and for the team to win both the MCL and the Hun Sen Cup. That is my hope for my new team and I will do everything I can to make it happen.”

Happy to play in any position

“For the team I am happy to play in any position, though I prefer midfield and winger,” said PPCFC’s Japanese-born utility player, Yuta Suzuki, who joined the club in February. After six months playing for FSC Stara Rise in Czech Republic football - in his own words, “a good experience, it was very physical” - the 26-year-old is happy to be in Cambodia with PPCFC. “As a professional, my best-ever moment was beating Boeungket, I and the team put everything into winning and it was a fantastic feeling. Everyone worked so hard and the voice of our fans was so loud, we have so many supporters and they can make a big difference when they shout for the team.” Comparing Khmer football with the game in Japan, where he played for 4 years with Senshu University and two years with FC Suzuka Rampole, he feels: “Cambodians play with a lot of heart and passion, great intensity and fighting spirit. What they lack, especially our youngsters, is in the physical side of football, but their technique is very good. Svay Rieng are the best team we have played but I really feel PPCFC can be the strongest team this season, though we have to fight hard in every match, like we did against Boeungket.”
Born: 9/July/1990 in Mie Prefecture, Central Japan. Hobbies: Reading, watching movies, eating Japanese food.

Ability to be champions

PPCFC are very pleased to announce the signing of 27-year-old South Korean striker, Gisung Yeon, until the end of the current season. “I’m very happy to join PPCFC, the stadium and pitch are excellent, the team has many fans, the coaching staff are very good and I hope I can bring some stability and encouragement to help the younger players. I think the team has the ability to be champions. I also heard great things about the club from my close friends, Sim and Baek, who used to play here.”
Gisung was born (1/8/89) in Suwon City in South Korea and won the national high school championships with his school in Yongin City, Baekam High School. After 2 years at Honam University in Gwangju, he spent a year with Gyeongnam in the K-League, though his chances were limited so he headed to Thailand. He joined TTM Phichit in the Thai Premier in 2011, scored a hat-trick in one of his first matches, but suffered a dislocated foot, requiring two surgeries, which kept him sidelined for 20 months. He returned in 2013 for a 4-month spell in the Thai Premier with BEC Tero, before a loan spell with PTT Rayong in Division 1 ended with an ACL knee injury. After another long spell out of action, he spent 2015 with Yadanarbon in the Myanmar League, finishing in 2nd place and beaten cup finalists. Last year, he played the second half of the season with Bangkok Christian College in Thai Division 2, scoring 7 goals. Gisung is two-footed – “my right foot is more accurate but my left is more powerful” – and in his spare time he likes to study English. He will wear jersey number 12. 

It was wonderful

Ouk ‘Messi’ Sothy is one of our longest-serving players, with Crown for more than five years, having arrived in November 2011 from Flying Bikes. “I’m happy at PPCFC, it’s the best club in Cambodia and we are developing football the right way in my view. My ambition this year is to put another star on the club badge and to win the Hun Sen Cup for the first time.” Messi, a nickname he picked up as a teenager, won the 2014 Championship with Crown but was forced to sit out the following years’ title success with a debilitating ACL injury he suffered whilst training with the Cambodia national team. “I played two friendly games for Cambodia in 2014 (against Malaysia and Indonesia) and would love another chance, but it’s up to the new coach. Playing for the national team was a dream come true for me, it was wonderful and a real confidence-booster.” He also appeared for the Cambodia Futsal national team. Messi will turn thirty later this year and says of his teammates: “We have a good mix of young and senior players at the club. Our youngsters show great character, a big heart and give 100% and it’s a pleasure to play with them as one of the older heads in the team.” 
Born: 5/Oct/1987 in Phnom Penh. Hobbies: Romantic music and swimming.

The best present

Ahead of Saturday's big match, one player who has been influential at both PPCFC and Boeung Ket is Keo Sokngon. As a teenager he won two League Championships and two Hun Sen Cups with Crown before spending a year in Thailand with Samut Sakhon. In 2012 he returned to Cambodia to join Boeung Ket and win the league title for a third time. He rejoined PPCFC in June 2015 and was part of our Championship-winning team that year, collecting his 4th league winners medal. Add to that 3 MVP awards and many international appearances for the Cambodia National Team and Sokngon's career has been a success story. "It's my birthday on Sunday so I want to give our fans the best present - a victory. These games attract a lot of fans, both teams have had great success and when they meet, it's always a fantastic game for the players and fans, just like the biggest games around the world. I've had good times at both clubs though my dream this season is for PPCFC to be in the top 4 and then win another championship, as well as the Hun Sen Cup, which I believe we can do." When asked to highlight the best moment of his career, Sokngon returns to his youth. "My best memory was when my dream came true and I played for the Cambodia U-17 team in Phnom Penh against Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia and scored 3 goals. It was the start of everything. I will never forget it."

Academy net 8

Result: PPCFC Academy U-15 8 FFPCA 0 (RSN Youth Cup Elite U-16). 
It was business as usual for the Academy today at RSN after their shock defeat last weekend in the new RSN Youth Cup. In their first game under Thai coach Somchart Yimsiri, the youngsters led 3-0 at the break with goals from Sem Phanny and two from Ros Darapich. Two goals each from Chon Chamroeun and Met Samel after the interval increased the lead with Pros Vutha's goal completing a dominant performance late on.
PPCFC Academy line-up, back row, LtoR: Laiheang, Chamroeun, Samel, Pisoth, Navin, Darapich. Front row: Vutha, Phanny, Sokly, Ladin, David.

Double figures for Crown

Match Report: PPCFC 10 Football Future Pro 3 (Pre-Season Friendly).
In this afternoon's friendly at RSN Stadium, a Crown team made up of players who didn't play in last night's friendly with Western, put FFP to the sword after a sluggish start. The 2nd-half was brightened considerably by the first appearance of Shane Booysen since his ACL injury in February. FFP got the ball rolling with the first goal, through Privat on 10 minutes. Four minutes later Sin Kakada curled in the equaliser from a 20-yard free-kick. Within a minute FFP went further ahead and on 18 minutes Pov Ponvuthy made it 2-2, heading in Sraing Titchhy's cross. On 35 minutes, Thai striker Somkiat Kunmee netted his second goal in three minutes, with deadly accuracy, and Mat Sakrovy rifled in a far post volley from Yeu Muslim's cross, a minute before the break.

With the addition of Booysen at the interval, Crown continued to take the game to FFP and the South African signalled his return with a curling free-kick into the top corner from 18 yards, eight minutes into the half. A minute later he moved effortlessly onto Kakada's pass and sent a first-time chip over the stranded goalkeeper for his second. Next he turned provider with a perfect pass for Somkiat to run through and lob the keeper on 64 minutes, for his hat-trick goal. With 71 minutes on the clock, Somkiat turned neatly in the box and set up Kakada for his second goal and a minute later, Sakrovy's bye-line center was turned into his own goal by a defender for Crown's tenth. Baldwin scored a consolation for FFP but Crown failed to convert another half-dozen chances through Booysen and Somkiat before the final whistle.
PPCFC line-up, back row, LtoR: Chanvuthy, Boris, Chanchav, Titchhy, Sakrovy, Sovann. Front: Kakada, Muslim, Somkiat, Piphop, Ponvuthy.

Shane Booysen made his eagerly-awaited return to competitive football for the second-half of today's practice game with FFPCA. And he crowned his return with two goals in the first nine minutes of stepping back onto the pitch in a 10-3 victory. His last game was in February before his ACL operation. How did he feel? "Playing 45 minutes after such a long time was breathtaking, quite literally. I never thought that coming back so soon would be so hard, but I had a good time and enjoyed myself. My touches were a bit rusty but with more match fitness I will get there. Overall experience was really nice and playing with my new teammates and the younger guys made my job a bit easier as they ran more. Let's see and hope that my match fitness will return and our team will pick up their performance. There was a touch of rustiness and I was not clinical enough. One ball I approached it thinking it was a goal already but it shows you are never bigger than the game, so its something I need to work on to be back to where I was." From all PPCFC and football fans, welcome back Shane. 

No goals at Western

Match Report: PPCFC 0 Western 0 (Pre-Season Friendly).
In tonight's friendly under floodlights at Western, it was Crown that started on the front foot when Mao Piseth robbed a defender but sent his flicked shot just wide of the upright. Pov Ponvuthy had a couple of chances that he could've done better with while the home team's Osa crashed a free-kick against the cross-bar and then rolled a shot against the foot of the post. Keo Soksela tipped a free-kick over the bar on the restart before Western's keeper made a double save from Seut Baraing's free-kick and Kok Boris' follow-up shot. Thi Va impressed in his first game but his shot was easily held. Kim Namgun's run to the bye-line gave Boris another chance but his shot was deflected wide, and then he headed over from another Baraing free-kick, as the game ended scoreless.
PPCFC line-up, back row, LtoR: Soksela, Va, Safy, Pissa, Chanchav, Pisa (capt). Front: Baraing, Noeut, Piseth, Ponvuthy, Rozak.

Latest RSN news

PPCFC continue to assess their options for new players as the 2017 season looms a couple of months away. The MCL is expected to begin in February, though ratification by the Federation is still awaited, while Crown will be going to China in two weeks time for a tournament and also have the AFC Cup on the horizon, also expected to happen in February. With new head coach Oleg Starynskyi currently in his home country of Ukraine, first-team coaching duties are in the hands of goalkeeping coach Dave Maguire and he has seen two more new faces among his charges this week. South Korean midfielder Kim Namgun, fresh from a season with Korean National League side Gangneung City, but with experience in Brazil, China and Montenegro, is training with the team, as is young Khmer striker Thhe Va, who was with Thai team Trat last season. Tomorrow (Friday) the Crown team will face Western, at the Western Stadium, with a 6pm kick-off under floodlights in the latest pre-season friendly. Unlikely to feature are the injured trio of Anthony Aymard, Orn Chanpolin and Keo Sokngon, whilst Shane Booysen gets closer to joining in the competitive action every day.

Thanks for the memories

Two of PPCFC’s longest-serving players have recently parted company with the club. Bin Thierry, who joined the club in October 2012, and Leng Makara, who arrived at RSN in December 2011. Both players were an important part of our Championship-winning teams in 2014 and 2015 and both went onto deservedly represent the Cambodia national team during their time at the club. We would like to record our thanks and appreciation to both players for their service to PPCFC and wish them continued personal success in the future.

PPCFC and SALT Academy officially joined forces with NGO World Vision and sponsors Smart to kick-start the One Goal Pilot Programme, at a media conference yesterday (pictured above). The project fits into Smart's mandate to support education, environment and community sports and will allow World Vision to make a positive impact on youngsters in three provinces over the next year: Preah Vihear, Battambang and Takeo. One Goal will focus on children in those provinces receiving life skills and football coaching from coaches trained by PPCFC and SALT, who provide the technical expertise. Youngsters will train and play regular matches and enjoy a tournament at PPCFC later next year. Sam Schweingruber was at the official signing yesterday and has already started coaching the World Vision coaches to make this project a success.

Academy fail

PPCFC line-up (pictured above), back row, LtoR: Laiheang, Chamroeun, Samel, Pisoth, Darapich, Navin. Front: Vutha, Ladin, Phanny, Sokly, David.

Result: PPCFC Academy 4 Smart Kid 5 (RSN Youth Cup Elite U-16).
In the opening game of the new RSN Youth Cup, Smart Kid sprang a big surprise beating the Crown Academy U-15s at RSN Stadium this morning, especially as they were 3-1 behind at half-time. Crown led through Chon Chamroeun and 2 goals from Met Samel, the first a penalty after he was tripped. Smart Kid never gave up and scored 3 quick goals, as both sides had a player red carded. Samel scored his hat-trick goal to level it at 4-each but a breakaway goal late on gave Smart Kid the victory.

Defeat to B-Ket

PPCFC line-up (pictured above), back row, LtoR: Aymard, Pissa, Chanchav, Kakada, Chanvuthy, Boris. Front Row: Muslim, Baraing, Piseth, Noeut, Ponvuthy.

Match Report: PPCFC 0 Boeungket 3 (Friendly).
Despite a hard-working performance from the Crown youngsters, it was the foreign influence that won the day for the visitors. Crown dominated possession in the opening half, and struck the post early on through Sin Kakada. Japanese striker Tomoki tapped-in the opening goal on 11 minutes after Gbenga avoided four challenges to set him up. The home team went close through Choun Chanchav, Yeu Muslim and Kok Boris but were a goal behind at the break.
Pov Ponvuthy went close twice in the early stages of the second-half including a bobbling effort that rebounded off the foot of the upright. A quick break gave Bata another tap-in goal from Tomoki's pass on 68 minutes for the visitors, and the same player netted a second within a minute. Sothearath's shot took a heavy deflection off Bata's outstretched foot and left keeper Svang Samnang scrambling across his goal in vain. Late on efforts from Ouk Sovann, Chanchav and Somkiat Kunmee were thwarted by Boeungket stopper Makara as the visitors saw out the game.
PPCFC select the following starting XI:
Chanvuthy, Noeut, Baraing, Boris, Aymard, Pissa, Chanchav, Muslim, Ponvuthy, Kakada, Piseth.
Substitutes: Samnang, Safy, Sovann, Pisa, Rozak, Piphop, Sakrovy, Somkiat, Booysen.
Injured: Chanpolin, Sokngon, Titchhy, Chhaya, Chandara, Chansopheak.
Unavailable: Soksela, Thierry, Sodavid, Sokpheng.

New faces from Roi Et

PPCFC welcomed a delegation from Roi Et United, a Thailand League Division 2 club to RSN Stadium this evening, including experienced coach Somchart Yimsiri, who will take charge of the Crown Academy, having previously been head coach at Sisaket and with the Thai U-17 team that were 1998 AFC U-17 Champions, before many years at Roi Et. Also joining Crown as a player and seeking to make an impression over the next few weeks is 18-year-old striker Somkiat Kunmee, who was an Academy player with Muangthong United, spent a year with Leicester City's Academy before joining Roi Et, and has appeared for the Thailand U-16 and U-19 national teams. They are pictured on either side of Crown president Rithy Samnang in the group picture.

Q&A with Shane Booysen:

We ask our South African ball wizard the top 5 questions sent in by fans and as an added bonus we get to hear his fabulous singing voice. Thanks to all the fans who sent in their questions, and a big thanks to Shane for taking part.
https://youtu.be/eI_sGs9WHKo

Friendly results/fixtures

This coming Saturday, PPCFC will play our 6th pre-season friendly against National Police at RSN Stadium (3.30pm). Our friendly results and future pre-season fixtures are:
29 Oct vs Boeungket @ RSN Won 1-0 - Kakada
5 Nov vs PKR Svay Rieng Away Lost 0-1
7 Nov vs Cambodia NT @ RSN Lost 1-3 - Rozak
12 Nov vs Western @ RSN Won 3-2 - Sovann, Boris, Muslim
19 Nov vs Nagaworld @ RSN Lost 0-2
26 Nov vs National Police @ RSN Training Pitch 3.30pm
18 Dec vs Guangxi Longguida (China) Away 10.30am
20 Dec vs Army Utd (Thailand) Away 3pm
22 Dec vs Nam Dinh (Vietnam) Away 10.30am. 

RSN Youth Cup kicks off

RSN Stadium was a hive of activity this afternoon with the opening day of the community-based RSN Youth Cup, which began with a friendly tournament involving 90 ten-minute games across the various age levels. Next week the real competition begins with the following categories: U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16 (including an elite group of invited teams) for boys and an open-age girls group. Here are a few pictures from today's events, which gave the competition a fabulous opening day with involvement from hundreds of youngsters. It was great to see the enjoyment, commitment and fair play from all the teams and we look forward to the next five weeks of competitive football at RSN Stadium each weekend.

Friendly defeat

PPCFC line-up (above), back row, LtoR: Samnang, Chandara, Pisa, Pissa, Boris. Front: Rozak, Ponvuthy, Piphop, Muslim, Noeut, Baraing.

Match Report: PPCFC 0 Nagaworld 2 (Friendly).
In Saturday's pre-season friendly at RSN Stadium, Crown shaded the first-half and went closest through two Yeu Muslim efforts. Eight minutes after the break, Srin gave Naga the lead, sweeping his shot inside the near post. Sin Kakada posed a threat with his long-range shooting but couldn't find the target before Naga made the game safe on 77 minutes from the penalty spot. Virak was harshly adjudged to have been fouled by keeper Kung Chanvuthy and Borey netted from the spot. Borey was one of 9 ex-Crown players in visitor's colours. Mao Piseth blazed a good opportunity high and wide as the match fizzled out in Naga's favour.
Line-up: Samnang, Noeut, Baraing, Boris, Chandara, Pissa, Pisa, Piphop, Rozak, Ponvuthy, Muslim.
Substitutes: Chanvuthy, Aymard, Safy, Chansopheak, Sovann, Titchhy, Chanchav, Chhaya, Kakada, Sakrovy, Piseth.
Injured: Chanpolin, Sokngon, Booysen.

Incoming faces or not

As part of their pre-season preparation, PPCFC are looking at a number of options for foreign players for the 2017 season. Anthony Aymard (France) and Shane Booysen (South Africa) are already contracted for the new season. Crown will be looking at a number of new faces over the next few weeks, and at today's training session we welcomed three South Korean players who have just arrived in Cambodia. They are Park Ji Han, Jeong Hee Jong and An Sang Min. At this stage the players who join our training sessions, including these players, are not signed by the club, and are on try-out as well as using the sessions to improve their own fitness. We will of course let you know when PPCFC agrees contracts with any new foreign players.

Pretty faces

The PPCFC trio of head coach Oleg with Shane and Boris were happy to take time off from their pre-season training to lend their support to the 41 delegates of the Miss Tourism Metropolitan International 2016 earlier today, ahead of the world final which will take place on Friday evening at Nagaworld. We wish all the delegates success on Friday, including Cambodia's own Hang Manita. This was one of the more enjoyable sessions during the otherwise tough pre-season schedule for our trio from Crown.

China fixtures

PPCFC's matches in the China-Asean Cities Invitation Tournament (CACF) in Nanning, southern China next month, have been announced. Crown will kick-off the tournament against the home team, Guangxi Longguida, at 10.30am on Sunday 18 Dec at the Gangxi Sports Centre Stadium. Two days later (Tues 20 Dec) they will meet Thailand's Army United at 3pm at the same stadium. The final game for PPCFC in this 4-team competition will be on Thurs 22 Dec against Nam Dinh from Vietnam with a 10.30am kick-off. The tournament winners will be determined by most points won.

Oleg gets top job

Oleg (right) and VP Tommy Lim

Ukrainian-born coach Oleg Starynskyi has today signed a contract for the forthcoming season as the Head Coach of Phnom Penh Crown. He replaces Sam Schweingruber, who guided the club to two Cambodian League Championships, and who steps up to the role of Technical Director at RSN Stadium.
Starynskyi (30) joined Crown in February 2016 as an Academy coach after spending the last 3 and a half years in Malaysia including six months as the assistant coach of the Malaysian U-17 national team. He was born in Bila Tserkva, near the Ukraine capital of Kiev, and played youth football for FC Arsenal-Kyiv before spending five years learning the art of film directing at the Kyiv International University. That's where he began coaching and worked for the Kyiv regional federation and as a youth coach with FC Arsenal-Kyiv, before taking up a coaching post with the Goal Academy in Malaysia for three years. He's a UEFA B-license coach, with a Coerver coaching diploma.
Starynskyi coached the Crown Academy to the Smart RSN U-19 Youth Championship in June, supported Sam Schweingruber as an assistant coach of the first-team for much of last season, and did the same for the Cambodia U-19 national team in the recent AFF U-19 Youth Championships in Vietnam. Twenty-two of his U-19 Academy squad have been promoted to the Crown 1st-team this season.
Commenting on his appointment (pictured with Crown Vice-President Tommy Lim), he said: “This is an unexpected and great chance for me and this season will be a season of opportunity for everyone: starting with me as a coach. The club has given me the responsibility to lead the team and I really appreciate this. It will be a big responsibility on my shoulders, as it will for the boys who are newly-promoted to the 1st-Team. It’s a huge opportunity for them, they wouldn’t get this chance at any other club around the world, so I want them to grab it and show their passion and commitment, hard work and attitude.
I am committed to the club and the team, I try to implement attractive football, so we need to adjust our mentality to be more aggressive and take control of games. It won’t be an easy task, I don’t want to talk about winning trophies, we need to be realistic and try our very best in every game. Our team will be young so they need to take responsibility and adapt their mentality. We’ve had one month of pre-season and we will aim to be ready when we go to China and then the MCL and AFC Cup. We need to improve in all areas, especially our decision-making and I need some experienced foreign players in specific positions to help guide our younger players.”

Crown downed by NT

PPCFC line-up, back row, LtoR: Chanvuthy, Muslim, Chanchav, Chandara, Aymard, Pissa (capt). Front: Kakada, Baraing, Ponvuthy, Noeut, Rozak.

Match Report: Phnom Penh Crown 1 Cambodia National Team 3 (Friendly).
The first-half of this friendly game at RSN Stadium belonged to the NT in terms of possession and chances but it was a youthful Crown who held the goal advantage at the interval. Sin Kakada neatly sent in Sath Rozak on the right and his cool finish from a narrow angle in the 12th minute put the home side ahead. The NT kept Kung Chanvuthy busy in the Crown goal with a series of efforts, the best of the saves was a full-length dive to deny Tola's far post header. Meng and Somrach were wayward with their finishing until Crown went down to 10-men for a few minutes before the break as Anthony Aymard was red-carded for pulling back Sokpheng.
After the interval, it was pretty much one-way traffic as the NT turned on the pressure. Bin Thierry hit the foot of the post before he equalised from the penalty spot just after the hour. It was a fortunate decision for the visitors, as Suon Noeut put in a brave tackle on In Sodavid and then appeared to fall on the ball. Chea Chandara cleared a Sodavid shot from his goal-line but when he did the same after Khuon Laboravy headed on Sodavid's corner, the referee awarded a second goal to the NT on 74 minutes. Laboravy held his head in his hands after missing three chances he should have buried in the net before Hoy Phallin added a third, which the NT deserved, with a vicious drive from 22 yards that whistled past Svang Samnang in the Crown goal, with 7 minutes to go. There was still time for Laboravy to miss another guilt-edged chance as the NT coasted to a well-earned success.

A Story of Biblical Proportions

David Casserly - PPCFC's lawyer

When Phnom Penh Crown (PPCFC) were smacked with a ban from the AFC Cup, which should’ve been their icing on the cake for winning the Metfone Cambodian League at the end of last year, they were devastated and in disbelief. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) - the governing body for football in the Asian continent - informed the Cambodian Football Federation (FFC) on 20 May 2016 that PPCFC were not allowed to take part because of activities relating to match manipulation and they asked FFC to select another team. With their hard-earned prize torn from their grasp, PPCFC immediately appealed against the ban only for AFC to confirm their decision was final. On 3 June PPCFC made a last-ditch appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), often referred to as ‘sport’s supreme court,’ in an effort to overturn what they saw as an unfair and unjust decision by AFC. CAS is located in Lausanne in Switzerland and resolves sports-related disputes through arbitration, often involving such high-profile names as Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini, Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan, Maria Sharapova and dozens of athletes at the recent Rio Olympics.

For a small team like PPCFC from lowly-ranked Cambodia to take on such a formidable adversary in the form of the AFC was unheard of. You could liken it to the biblical proportions of David versus Goliath. PPCFC appointed Irish barrister and sports lawyer David Casserly (pictured above) as their go-to man. His involvement in several landmark cases and his experience acting for FIFA and UEFA, as well as several Champions League clubs in Italy, Portugal and France, was essential to any possibility of a successful appeal. He has a history of acting in leading corruption cases, foremost among them the World Cup vote-buying scandal, several of the key Bosman/Article 17 cases and disputes involving top players such as Luis Suarez, Pepe and Essien. He’d also previously acted as legal counsel and head of mediation at CAS itself. Assisting him was Jose Luis Andrade, a Portuguese attorney who had experience working on dispute resolution at FIFA.

At PPCFC, a small team of head coach Sam Schweingruber, general-secretary Ly Heang, press officer Andy Brouwer alongwith vice president Tommy Lim, provided Casserly and Andrade with the background information they needed to formulate their appeal against the AFC decision to deny PPCFC admission to the 2017 AFC Cup. Afterall, it was PPCFC who initially took internal action against match manipulation activities before placing the evidence with the FFC, who later banned four coaches. To punish the club for their proactive stance against such activities was the underlying unfairness of the AFC position.

The appeal case was heard by the CAS Arbitration Panel in their Lausanne headquarters on 19 August 2016. They found in favour of PPCFC, upholding the appeal, dismissed the decision of AFC and ordered them to allow PPCFC to participate in the AFC Cup Playoff Stage, likely to be held in February 2017. It was another successful landmark case for David Casserly and Jose Luis Andrade and an outcome that speaks volumes for the integrity and resourcefulness of PPCFC. They had stood their ground, taken on the might of AFC and won. History in the making and perhaps a result that a young shepherd boy with a slingshot would be proud of.

Media on CAS ruling

The local media picked up the story of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) ruling that PPCFC should be allowed to participate in the 2017 edition of the AFC Cup, by upholding our appeal against the decision of the AFC to refuse us admission, despite the club being the Cambodian champions. We will now join the competition at the Playoff Stage, likely to be held in February next year. 
CAS provides international sport with an independent authority specialising in sports-related disputes and is seen as the last possible decision maker on a variety of sporting issues. Their headquarters, where our case was heard, is in Switzerland. Here are some of the media articles:
[in English] http://www.phnompenhpost.com/…/crown-allowed-2017-afc-cup-a…
[in English] http://www.cambodiadaily.com/…/phnom-penh-crowns-match-fix…/
[in English] http://www.khmertimeskh.com/…/birthday-boy-udom-dampens-cr…/
http://keiladaily.com/index.php…
http://www.camsports.org/sports/13837.html
http://news.sabay.com.kh/article/812648
http://wearefootball.com.kh/2016/08/24/26729
https://postnews.media/p/64140

442 Magazine on Sam & PPCFC

FourFourTwo is the world’s biggest football magazine and they published this article on head coach Sam Schweingruber and PPCFC back in April 2016, just after Sam's return to the club following his rehabilitation in Switzerland. He is fortunate to be alive - his instinct for survival has much to do with him being here today. The story, written by Scott McIntyre, is worth repeating again and again. If you aren't prepared to stand up for what you believe in, don't bother standing up at all.
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/remarkable-story-sam-schweingruber-cambodias-death-cheating-vigilante

League Table (Round 17 for most clubs)

The Metfone C-League may be completed for PPCFC after last night's game, but the other 9 teams have matches still left to play. Svay Rieng will meet Western on 6 Sept which will determine their final position, whilst the rest of the games will be played on 9 and 10 Sept. The champion spot is still to be decided between Boeungket and Army, while the 2 relegation places are between three clubs. Here is the latest C-League table:

World Soccer Magazine on PPCFC

World Soccer Magazine is the unrivalled authority on the game of soccer around the world. The best writers, analytical features and the inside-track on domestic and world football have made World Soccer an institution. In it's latest edition for September, Christian Radnedge looks at PPCFC's fight to clear its name after our ban from the AFC Cup, by taking our case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS upheld our appeal and we will enter the AFC Cup early next year.

Final game ends in defeat

PPCFC vs Svay Rieng, Lost 2-3, back row, LtoR: Soksela, Kim, Thierry, Aymard, Jang, Boris. Front: Sothy, Pissa, Sokpheng, Baraing, Makara.

Wednesday 24 August 2016: Phnom Penh Crown 2 PKR Svay Rieng 3 (Metfone C-League Round 18).
Crown came away from Svay Rieng disappointed at not bringing back at least a point from their final league game of the 2016 season. They deserved it with a battling performance. The visitors began on the front foot and had Svay Rieng pinned back for the opening five minutes but it was the home side who took the lead in the 10th minute when Hoy Phallin fired past Keo Soksela after Obi Moneke had created the space. Kim Hyeon Woo netted only to be flagged offside and then somehow screwed his shot wide from close range after Keo Sokpheng’s weaving run on the left. On 29 minutes Prak Mony Udom scored an unstoppable free-kick from 23 yards to put the home team further ahead. The game continued to provide talking points when Kim was felled twice in the penalty box, Bin Thierry got behind the defence but blasted high and wide and Sokpheng’s free-kick was scrambled wide at the foot of the post. An even first half had seen SVR take their chances to lead 2-nil.
Jang In Yong continued to be a threat but blasted over on the restart, while another Udom free-kick had Soksela scuttling to his near post. A scuffle between Kok Boris and Lee Jongho saw both players cautioned, though two SVR substitutes that joined in the commotion went unpunished. Thierry failed to connect with any power when Sokpheng’s corner fell to him but Crown were back in the game on 67 minutes. Jang’s bustling run between three defenders wrong-footed the SVR defence and Sokpheng dispatched the pull-back with accuracy. PPCFC were on top at this point and a Thierry free-kick was back-headed goalwards by Jang only for the home keeper to produce a flying one-handed save. The home side then broke quickly and a foul on the edge of the area gave Udom the opportunity to find the net with a second free-kick that Soksela couldn’t keep out. A third goal against the run of play was a tough pill to swallow. Crown rallied, with Anthony Aymard heading over and a Thierry corner going through a host of bodies in the six-yard box. Crown did pull a goal back, four minutes into stoppage time, when Boris finished off a powerful run with an accurate shot from distance, but it was too late to repair the damage as the season came to a close with defeat.

PPCFC Head coach Sam Schweingruber gave his views after the final whistle. “Our defensive organisation wasn’t quite right at the start, they threatened us with their speed and it took us a while to adjust. We went 1-nil down but we had quite a few chances, especially one for Kim, so you would’ve expected us to go to half-time with a better result. Quite a few moments when on a good day we would have scored more goals and actually won the game. Fortunately for SVR, Udom scored two good free-kicks that helped them get the win. The first free-kick, there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop that. No goalkeeper can stop that one. The second free-kick, we have to do better and we will re-evaluate that with our goalkeeping coach. As for SVR’s third goal, that was not really fair as we’d had a few good attacking moves before that, and that goal hurt us.
Jang had good speed and touches today, very good to see. Sokpheng was good as well, a neat finish and good moments with his movement and intentions. The attitude of Baraing was very good, he’s a 16-year-old boy but his energy and intentions to attack is very encouraging as that kind of attitude will help us to be champions again in the future.”

Crown Appeal to CAS upheld

Phnom Penh Crown Club Statement : Dated 24 August 2016:

Phnom Penh Crown Football Club is very pleased to announce that the club will be allowed to participate in the 2017 AFC Cup following our appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

On 20 May 2016 the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced that PPCFC was refused admission to compete in the 2017 AFC Cup, despite being the Champions of the Metfone Cambodian League in 2015.

PPCFC appealed against the AFC decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland on 3 June 2016.

Following a hearing at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland on 19 August 2016, CAS upheld the club’s appeal, dismissed the decision of AFC, and ordered AFC to allow PPCFC to participate in the AFC Cup 2017.

PPCFC will consequently be admitted to participate in the AFC Cup Playoff Stage, likely to be held in February 2017.

PPCFC would like to express its appreciation to the CAS Arbitration Panel for their integrity and fairness and to its lawyers, Mr David Casserly and Mr Jose Luis Andrade, for their utmost professionalism and tireless efforts in this matter on our behalf.

Andy Brouwer
Press Officer
PPCFC
RSN Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

MCL Results

Metfone C-League Results:
(Fri) AEU 1 (Sopanha) PKR Svay Rieng 3 (Samoeung, Kipson, Tola)
(Sat) Western 1 (Rany) Nat Police 5 (Osei Tutu 3, Dina 2)
(Sat) CMAC 0 PPCFC 4 (Bisan 2, Aymard, Kim H-W)
(Sun) Army 1 (Chol) Cambodian Tiger 0
(Sun) Boeungket 0 Nagaworld 0.