Federation make sweeping changes

It's been a bit quiet on the football front in recent days, so it's good to come back to the blog with some pretty earth-shattering news. For lovers of Cambodian football that is. Okay, so earth-shattering may be a little too much but for me personally, it feels like someone has at last seen the light and unscrewed their head from the dark place that it's been resting for the last couple of years. The Super 4 play-offs in the Metfone Cambodian League have been abolished, ahead of the upcoming 2014 season. In its place will be a straight, first past the post league competition, that reverts Cambodian football back to real football and away from the mickey mouse stuff that has decided the championship in recent times. It's the best news for all traditionalists and football purists like myself. Thumbs up to the football federation. I may be their biggest critic but credit where it's due. The news was announced in a club manager's meeting earlier today, alongwith some other very interesting snippets.

The next bombshell from the federation, is that the ten-club league championship will be extended to 11 clubs when it begins again in January. But wait for it...the newcomers will be from Japan, in the shape of Albirex Niigata FC. What, how, why, I hear you cry! The federation have been cuddling up to the Japanese FA in recent months and this is the brand new baby that has been delivered from that close union. No need to qualify or any such nonsense, a free pass straight into the MCL. Albirex Niigata already operate two teams, their main act is in the J-League Division 1 but they also have a team, doing very well I might add, in the Singapore League as well. This will be a further extension of the AN franchise. The federation are hoping this will add a real buzz to the C-League, improve spectator interest, with the new club playing Japanese players, bringing a new style of football playing, coaching and management to Cambodian football and effectively giving the league a veritable kick up the arse. It's a bold move that has paid off in Singapore and the federation hope it will have the same effect here. We shall see, but if you don't try, you don't know.

As if those two announcements weren't enough, there is more. The federation have confirmed they want to start home and away fixtures from January, though they appreciate this will be limited because of the timeframe to put this into place. But they are keen for clubs to work towards this goal and keen to get it off the ground. It's known that PPCFC, Boeung Ket and Svay Rieng are taking measures to follow the federation's lead, whilst the Army already have their own stadium. With the play-offs abolished, the federation want to introduce an end of season cup competition in its place. The FFC Cup will likely involve the top four finishers in the championship race playing-off for this new cup to add a bit of spice to the end of the campaign, as well as a couple of extra matches. The teams below haven't been forgotten either and they will play-off for the FFC Challenge Cup under the same format. Last but not least, the season's calendar will change after the 2014 season comes to an end in July. Next year, the C-League will begin again soon after, in October (2014) and run through til May, with the Hun Sen Cup acting as a mid-season competition in December-January time. The reason for this change has yet to be explained but avoiding the heavy rains might be the prompt they needed. So there you have it, the federation have made some sweeping changes to the Metfone C-League that is looming large on the horizon and all in all, they look like an interesting mix.

New Dawn

The New Dawn has finally arrived for Cambodian football. Hallelujah. The great and the good gathered at the brand new national football center in Tonle Bati this morning to congratulate each other on this latest venture, costing over $2.2million and intended to be the start of Cambodia's entry into developing their football players of the future. It's been a long time coming but its finally arrived, aided in no small part by a $1.3million cheque from the FIFA Goal Project, a shed-load of cash from the Football Federation's own coffers, as well as individual contributions from wealthy supporters and an unknown amount from the Hoang Anh Gia Lai property development company from Vietnam. The new training center consists of the following, taken from the speech of the Prime Minister, Hun Sen who officially unveiled the center earlier today: "... 15-hectare-land consists of 3 dormitory buildings for senior team players, 63 dormitory buildings for academy players, 1 administration building, 1 cafeteria, 2 uniform-changing halls, 1 generator-storage building, clean-water-purifying system, electrical network, 4 standard-size pitches, concrete routes and 2,885m of rain drainage, 1600m of boundary fences...". Also in attendance were the top men in Asian football including the Presidents of AFC and AFF. The center itself will house the Federation's intended new Academy, though there's no date for when that will start. The formalities were followed by a friendly match between the Cambodian U-16 national team and opponents from the HAGL Arsenal JMG Academy in Vietnam, which the visitors won 3-0. They were older and much bigger, it was a mismatch, I'm informed.

Yesterday, the FFC held a press conference to announce the latest version of the BIDC Cup. It will take place in November with teams from six regional countries, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and China as well as two teams from Japan. Exact details were sketchy aside from the $120,000 that's being invested in the competition by the BIDC sponsors. In 2011 the tournament was known as the Mekong Region Youth U21 International Football Tournament BIDC Cup 2011, which was MRYUIFTBIDCC for short.

Déjà vu, again

Obviously, it almost goes without saying, that the Cambodian football federation have changed the Metfone C-League fixtures yet again. They realised that they needed to avoid playing during the King Father's cremation (essentially a month-long break from league action) and now that the AFC Challenge Cup matches in the Philippines have been moved back to 22-26 March, they have to work around that as well. So here is the latest version of Phnom Penh Crown's fixtures in Round 1 and Round 2 of the 2013 Metfone C-League. But don't hold your breath.

Round 1:
Sat 12 Jan v BBU @ Army Stadium 3pm
Sat 19 Jan v Nat Police @ Army Stadium 3pm
Sun 24 Feb v Naga @ Olympic 2pm
Sun 3 Mar v Senate @ Olympic 4pm
Sun 10 Mar v Army @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 16 Mar v Boeung Ket @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 30 Mar v Preah Khan @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 6 Apr v AEU @ Olympic 4pm
Sat 27 Apr v Kirivong @ Olympic 4pm

Round 2:
Sat 4 May v BBU @ Army Stadium 3pm
Sat 18 May v Nat Police @ Army Stadium 3pm
Sun 26 May v Naga @ Olympic 2pm
Sun 2 Jun v Senate @ Olympic 4pm
Sun 9 Jun v Army @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 15 Jun v Boeung Ket @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 22 Jun v Preah Khan @ Olympic 2pm
Sat 29 Jun v AEU @ Olympic 4pm
Sat 6 Jul v Kirivong @ Olympic 4pm
Note: The play-offs begin 13 July and the play-off final will be on 20 July.

The Top Fifty

The first announcement to come out of the football federation since Prak Sovannara returned to coach the Cambodian national team, is a list of 50 players who the coach has selected to get together as a preliminary squad, so he can whittle it down to a more manageable squad of around 22 players, which he will take to Philippines for the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in early March. The idea is to have training sessions and then some friendly matches ahead of the Philippines trip. The problem as I see it, is that this late in the day decision to send a team to the Challenge Cup will now have a serious impact on the upcoming Cambodian League and Hun Sen Cup programme of matches. Initially, the federation announced that Cambodia would not be involved and they then brought forward the start of the season by two months to 1 January, with the cup matches beginning ten days before that and lasting through to mid-February. Now they have changed their mind with no consultation with the clubs, again, appointed a new coach and appear to have given him carte blanche to select players and insist they attend training sessions and play matches for the national team. Which quite simply rides roughshod over the plans and commitments of the club teams, with whom the players are contracted, and who have a very busy midweek and weekend series of matches throughout January and February. This lack of planning ahead is a constant problem within the federation and brings the national team into conflict with the clubs at every turn. How can club coaches prepare their teams for a busy schedule when the likelihood is that Sovannara will call his fifty players for training and matches up to four times a week. It simply doesn't add up. There has so far been no mention of postponing C-League matches before and during the AFC Challenge Cup, but this simply must happen or all hell will let loose. Everyone in Cambodia wants a successful national team but there has to be consultation with the clubs, give and take to ensure the domestic competitions don't suffer. But at the moment, it appears pretty much all one-sided in favour of the federation.

Back to the squad of fifty that Prak Sovannara wants to have a good look at. It includes six players from Phnom Penh Crown, most notably the two recent arrivals from France, Bin Thierry and Kok Boris. Crown keeper Samrith Seiha, Sos Suhana, Khim Borey and the injured Kouch Sokumpheak have also been listed. The latter will not likely play for at least two months so his chances of going to the Philippines is extremely slim. The same might be said for Khuon Laboravy of Preah Khan who is also included. Both players had cruciate ligament operations, which are serious injuries, and whilst there may be a desire to rush them back in time, that could be counter-productive to their long term careers. PKR have eight players in the fifty, as do Sovannara's former club Naga, champions Boeung Ket have seven and the National Police and Army have six. All the usual names are in the frame except PKR's Tum Saray, whilst one name has been added though it remains to be seen if Chhunly Pagenburg, who plays his football in Germany with Eintracht Trier 05, will be tempted to join up with the squad.

Nara gets the top job

Prak Sovannara - back at the helm of the national team

As expected, the federation have today announced that Prak Sovannara will take over the reins of the Cambodian national team as head coach for the forthcoming AFC Challenge Cup qualifying group matches in the Philippines in early March. Sovannara has resigned as head coach at NagaCorp, where he took charge in March 2010 after a stint with Preah Khan Reach, and will be joined by a backroom team of assistant coaches Meas Channa, Ieng Saknida and goalkeeping coach, Prak Vanny. The newly-appointed coach has been in the hot seat before, for a year from July 2008 and has been number two as well. I've always found him to be one of the most knowledgeable people in Cambodian football and as the reporter for the Phnom Penh Post, I interviewed him on numerous occasions. The following post shines a light on the career of Prak Sovannara and appeared on my blog on 18 March 2009.

I recently chatted to Prak Sovannara about his own career as a player and coach before becoming the Cambodian national team coach midway through last year (2008), and the first surprise is that he's just 36 years old, making him one of international football's youngest coaches. Born in November 1972, he made his debut for his country at 21, retired from playing at 27 to concentrate on coaching and took on the national team hot-seat last year at the tender age of 35. He's Cambodia's only Asian Football Federation A-licence qualified coach, coaching at junior, youth and club level before taking the top job after Korean coach Yoo Kee-Heung was sacked. Sovannara is quick to single out the influence of Joachim Fickert, whom he played under in the national team when the German coached the Cambodia side during the 1990s. "I learnt so much from him, about organization, tactics as well as how to handle players on and off the pitch, " he said.

Sovannara's playing career began at 17 for the Civil Aviation team in the 2nd Division. As a wide right-sided midfield player, he combined football with his sports teacher studies before joining the more-fancied Division 1 Royal Bodyguard team in 1993 - a move to a club that swept all before them in the top flight of Cambodian football during his half a dozen years there. 1993 also saw him make his international debut against a visiting USSR U/19 team, at the age of 21. It was in 1995 that Cambodia, with Sovannara as a regular in midfield, took its first tentative steps back into re-establishing its international presence. They took part in the SEA Games in Chiang Mai though their years of isolation clearly showed, conceding 32 goals and scoring none in their four matches. A year later, with Fickert now at the helm, they took part in the Tiger Cup in Singapore, where they lost all four games, in the SEA Games in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in 1997, where they won twice and narrowly missed the semi-finals, and finished third in the Presidents Cup in the Philippines the same year.

1999 was a watershed year for Sovannara. In the SEA Games in Brunei, he was to play the last of his international matches for Cambodia, as well as parting company with his successful club side. He passed his B-licence in coaching that year and decided that coaching was where his future lay. He was 27 years old. Though he'd been involved in coaching schools and junior teams, he now moved up a notch, as assistant coach to the national youth team for the next three years, before another step up, this time as assistant to the new Cambodian national coach Scott O'Donell for a couple of years. In 2006 he tasted a year in charge of club side Phnom Penh Empire, leading them to runners-up spot in the Cambodia Premier League before returning to coach the national youth team at U/17 level. Seemingly groomed for the top job in Cambodian football and definitely the best-equipped homegrown coach, Sovannara was the man the FFC turned to after the departure of Yoo Lee-Heung and following a few early forgettable results, he gained immediate success by guiding the country through qualification to the finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup. The next challenge will be to qualify for next year's AFC Challenge Cup finals with success in Bangladesh next month, as well as a good showing at the SEA Games in Laos at the end of the year. It won't be an easy task but Sovannara has shown he's prepared to take on that challenge, as he continues to shape and define his youthful squad.

That was the end of my blog post but I think its worth also noting the details of Sovannara's previous spell as the national team coach, which ended in June 2009 when Scott O'Donell returned to lead the team as head coach: Prak Sovannara took over as Cambodia's national coach in July 2008 after a string of poor performances under the former South Korean coach and the forecast looked bleak when a three week stint of practice matches in South Korea, produced losses in six of eight games to university and domestic teams. Not easily deterred, Sovannara, who played for the national team in the 1990s and who has coached domestic side Phnom Penh Empire and the national youth team, also cast aside crushing friendly defeats, 7-1 to Myanmar and 7-0 to Indonesia, to put some fire into the belly of his players for the AFF Suzuki Cup qualifying tournament held in Phnom Penh last October. With wins over Laos (3-2) and Brunei (2-1), a draw with Timor Leste (2-2) and a loss to Philippines (2-3), his youthful Cambodian team, with an average age of 22, qualified as runners-up for the finals. This was a real success for the fans and players alike to rejoice in, exemplified by the whole squad running to throw their shirts into the 15,000 crowd at the end of the qualifiers. In the December finals Cambodia came unstuck against Singapore (0-5) and Indonesia (0-4) and narrowly lost to Laos 3-2 but could hold their heads high in competing at the senior level of Asean football. In April 2009, he took his young squad to Bangladesh for the AFC Challenge Cup group stage and narrowly failed to qualify, beating Macau 2-1 but losing to Bangladesh and Myanmar, by a 1-nil scoreline on both occasions. He relinquished control of the squad when O'Donell returned. In a dozen international matches under his control, he won three games, 1 draw and eight defeats, goals for 14, goals against 37.

Will they, won't they?

Anyone have any idea what is happening in the minds of the officials at the football federation of Cambodia? In October they announced they were turning their back on international football, having decided not to take part in the next edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, the competition for half of the Asian football nations, flagged as emerging countries, and which offers a route into the heavyweight AFC Asian Cup. The official reasoning behind the decision was as follows: "The FFC wants to concentrate on building youth and grassroots programs (in the country)," with the statement also citing limited financial reach due to the ongoing construction of the country's new national football center in Bati. As a result, no replacement was sought for Hok Sochetra, the outgoing national team coach, as it was anticipated that Cambodia's next foray into international football wouldn't be until the SEA Games at the end of 2013 in Myanmar. For Cambodia's U-23 team. So the federation could save a few dollars. Then low and behold, the AFC yesterday announced the draw for the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualifying competition and Cambodia were included afterall. The mind boggles, it truly does.

According to the AFC, Cambodia have been drawn to compete in the qualifying competition, to be held in the first week of March 2013, in the Philippines, in Group E which contains 4 countries, the host country of course, Turkmenistan, Brunei and Cambodia. Or will it? No official word for the federation yet confirming they have changed their mind and will compete as the AFC are expecting them to do. There is a full C-League program in the first week of March that is already planned, so if the AFC Challenge Cup qualification takes place, those matches will have to be re-scheduled. And there's the small matter of who will be in charge of the Cambodian national team, if they go to Philippines. I've heard a whisper that Naga coach Prak Sovannara is the man who will be the next incumbent of the hot seat, but again, silence as usual from the federation. 

Heading to oblivion

I am scratching my head, trying to understand exactly where the football federation of Cambodia are heading. The word, oblivion, springs to mind. There's been such a long list of blunders, inept decisions and hair-brained schemes in the last few years but I think today they finally outdid themselves with the announcement that they are turning their back on international football. Other decisions beggar belief, such as bringing forward the league season by 3 months without consulting anyone, but to effectively disband the senior national team for the whole of next year, quite simply means they have lost touch with reality, and certainly the respect of every football fan on the terraces. The news came out today that the federation, announced by their spokesman May Tola, have decided not to take part in the next edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, the competition for half of the Asian football nations, flagged as emerging countries, and which offers a route into the heavyweight AFC Asian Cup. With only the SEA Games, which is an Under-23 tournament, on the official calendar for 2013, that means the senior Cambodia national team have no competitive matches next year. It's actually a repeat of the year leading up to the recent AFF Suzuki Cup disaster in Laos, as the national team failed to play an international match during the previous twelve months. They may as well put the national team into hibernation and throw away the key. With this one decision, they have undermined every Cambodian player who has dreams of wearing the national team shirt with pride, as well as every football fan who hopes that the next international game will see the Cambodian team reverse their abysmal record.

The official reasoning behind the decision is as follows: "The FFC wants to concentrate on building youth and grassroots programs (in the country)," with the statement also citing limited financial reach due to the ongoing construction of the country's new national football center in Bati. There is no mention of why the funds provided by FIFA towards the new football center, the sponsorship money from Metfone for the league competition as well as a myriad of other sponsorship deals, is not sufficient for the FFC to manage their finances, in such a way that allows the national team to fulfill even their most basic commitments. The lack of grassroots and youth development by the federation has been painfully obvious, so a commitment to that sounds laudable, but not at the expense of disbanding the national team. The national team is the pinnacle of football in any country - take that away and you leave a void that will be difficult to recover from. The response from online football fans is one of disbelief, an emotion I share. They have suffered in silence whilst the federation have overseen a slump in fortunes that reached an all-time low under South Korean coach Lee Tae-Hoon. The horror show continued in Laos a couple of weeks ago under the now-departed Hok Sochetra. The fans were looking forward to raising their spirits with an incoming new coach, but without any international matches to play, there's no reason to employ anyone, anytime soon. That in itself is a damning indictment of the federation.

The future certainly looks bleak. The SEA Games are at the end of 2013 in Myanmar. For Cambodia's U-23 team. For the senior national team, the next edition of the AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers is in 2014, whilst the next World Cup qualification competition is in 2015. We have no idea what the federation's plans are, as they rarely speak in public, let alone share their strategic plans for the future. It's a closed shop. They are a law unto themselves. They make decisions unilaterally, usually announce them at the last minute, and leave everyone else to pick up the pieces. In this instance, they have swiped the carpet from under the feet of every football fan in the country, without any reasoning that holds water. I fear for the game of football in Cambodia if this situation continues.

Federation folly

It's all kicking-off today. Not only do we have the Hun Sen Cup dates and the news that Phnom Penh Crown have signed their second French-Khmer import, Boris Kok, but the football federation have also sent through the fixtures for the new Metfone C-League. And blow me down with a feather, they've gone and brought forward the football season by nearly 3 months. Without any consultation with the clubs at all. Just because they can. I am completely non-plussed. The federation treat Cambodian football like its personal plaything, to do with as they please. There has been no statement to anyone as to why the season has been shifted forward, simply that it has, so get on with it. It would be funny if it wasn't so ridiculous. The first half of the new season's campaign will take place between 1 January and 10 March. The second round will then begin 19 March and end of 15 June 2013 with the play-off final. To add another less-than-amusing twist, the midweek games have been shunted forward to Tuesdays, so for the opening match on Tuesday 1 January, Phnom Penh Crown will meet BBU. Work that one out. If that wasn't bad enough, all midweek games will be played at the appalling Army Stadium, which is one of the worst pitches in the country. With the Hun Sen Cup matches taking place between 20 December and 16 February, that means clubs will have overlapping league and cup games crammed into the beginning of their season.

The full fixtures for PPCFC are as follows:

First Round:

Tue 1 Jan BBU - 3pm (@ Army Stadium)

Tue 8 Jan National Police - 3pm (@ Army Stadium)

Sun 20 Jan Naga - 2.30pm

Sun 27 Jan Senate - 4.30pm

Sun 3 Feb Army - 2.30pm

Sat 9 Feb Boeung Ket - 2.30pm

Sat 23 Feb Preah Khan Reach - 2.30pm

Sat 2 Mar AEU - 4.30pm

Sat 9 Mar Kirivong - 4.30pm

Second Round:

Tue 19 Mar BBU - 3pm (@ Army Stadium)

Tue 26 Mar National Police - 3pm (@ Army Stadium)

Sun 7 Apr Naga - 2.30pm

Sun 28 Apr Senate - 4.30pm

Sun 5 May Army - 2.30pm

Sat 11 May Boeung Ket - 2.30pm

Sat 18 May Preah Khan Reach - 2.30pm

Sat 25 May AEU - 4.30pm

Sat 1 Jun Kirivong - 4.30pm

Play-offs begin 8 June. Final on 15 June.

Sochetra walks away

Hok Sochetra realises he's bitten off more than he can chew

Hok Sochetra has fallen on his sword. He has seen the writing on the wall and has resigned as head coach of the Cambodia national team, citing his own inexperience in the role. And that takes guts. I salute him for his decision. He could've stayed on - cor blimey, the last man in the job, Lee Tae-Hoon, stayed on way past his sell-by date - as Sochetra was the federation's choice as head coach so presumably they were prepared to back him, and take Cambodia into the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers early next year, but he's taken what in many respects is the tougher decision to get out now. The performances and results of the Cambodian team at the recent AFF Suzuki Cup, Sochetra's first serious competition in charge, were pretty much a disaster. Losing to Myanmar was to be expected but to fail against Laos, Brunei and Timor Leste was a bitter pill to swallow, and the manner of the defeats made it even less palatable. Sochetra simply wasn't ready for the top job and he's man enough to accept that. Until a few months ago he was a youth coach at Preah Khan Reach and number three in the Cambodian U-22s coaching set-up, and then in one quick blink of an eye he was elevated to head coach of the Cambodian senior team, with his A-licence AFC coaching badge as his sole qualification for the role. It was too much too soon and anyone with a footballing braincell could see that. The job is an almost impossible task for any coach unless they have suitable hard-earned experience in the role, preferably as a national team coach, who is strong enough to lead from the front and to whip the federation and the game itself, into far better shape. The slide needs to be arrested, and quickly, before Cambodia find themselves even further down the pecking order in Asian football. Sochetra has made a good decision, for himself and for Cambodia football, and for that he deserves credit. We should never forget that he knows where the net is - he's the country's leading goalscorer of all time with 42 goals in 64 national team games - and no-one can take that away from him. Now, he needs to cut his coaching teeth in domestic club football, show what he's capable of and come back in the future, when he's ready and qualified for another crack at the top job.

Taking issue

Keo Sokngorn receives his Best Player cheque

I find it increasingly difficult to agree with virtually every decision emanating from the football federation in Cambodia. The big one for me was the decision to reintroduce the play-off system to decide who would be the league champions. That simply stinks for a football traditionalist like me. Have your play-offs to decide minor relegation or promotion places or cup competitions but never to decide the destination of the country's championship title. It's wrong whichever way you look at it. That said, the FFC are also responsible for choosing the other end of season awards such as the season's best player. Last time around they bamboozled everyone, including the player himself, by choosing Chea Samnang from Preah Khan Reach. No-one saw that coming, as the officials completely overlooked a long list of players with far more pressing credentials. Blow me down, if they don't go and do the same again this season. You'd think that the captain of the title-winning team, Boeung Ket, might have a shout at the award, but again there have been players who've performed to a higher standard and with more consistency this campaign. The prize was picked up by Keo Sokngorn yesterday. The player had one of his best games too but over the course of the season, he has not shone, either for club and country, certainly not as much as he did when he picked up the same award two years ago. In his own team, Friday Nwakuna, who has looked twice the player he was in his previous spells in the C-League, and combative, shoot-on-sight Sumaila Momoh have been far more outstanding. For Naga, Chuon Chum changed his name and changed his game, and was in rampant form throughout the season, whilst two more Preah Khan youngsters, Moul Daravorn and Nen Sothearoth, have come on leaps and bounds this year. Injuries to two of the country's best players, Khuon Laboravy and Kouch Sokumpheak, have allowed others to shine in their absence such as Sos Suhana, Sokngorn's younger brother Keo Sokpheng and Ek Sopheap from Kirivong. There's no argument when it comes to Boeung Ket collecting the top scorer (Friday Nwakuna), best coach (Prak Vuthy) and best goalkeeper (Penh Bunchhay) awards but I've watched most of the C-League matches this season and must take issue with the FFC's choice of best player.
PS. I forgot that the FFC also awarded the best referee award to Thong Chankethya, another decision I completely disagree with. Chankethya is a referee I've written about many times, he's card happy and definitely doesn't follow the old adage that a good referee is one we don't see when we watch a match. He appears to love making decisions that impact on games and yesterday's dismissal of Sin Dalin was another case in point. If I took a poll amongst the C-League players as to which referees they least want to be in the middle; I reckon Chankethya will be right up there, alongside Khuon Virak and Yien Kivatanak.

Frimpong slapped again

I am finding it very hard to hold my tongue with the news I've received this afternoon. Just two days before Phnom Penh Crown meet the Army (at 2.30pm on Sunday at Olympic Stadium), Crown have just received notice from the football federation that they have slapped a further 2-match ban on midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong, following his red card against Boeung Ket on 11 July. So effectively, the work coach David Booth has been doing with his team this week, with Frimpong expected to line-up on Sunday, has just gone down the pan. How the heck can the FFC conjure up another two-game suspension so long after the event? Frimpong was sent off by referee Neang Sorithya after the final whistle for words he allegedly directed at the match referee. He received a two-match ban and missed the games against Chhlam Samuth and BBU. The Ghanaian returned to action last weekend against Kirivong. Then out of the blue came the letter from the president of the match committee informing the club that Frimpong has been banished for another two matches. There is no official reason quoted for the suspension. The FFC state they have made the decision because of the "player attitude," quoting match regulations and FIFA principle. I can only assume, because they are not at all clear in their reasoning, that Frimpong must've been shown the red card for using offensive, racist, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures. But that's a guess. The FFC have failed in their most basic duty to stipulate why. And how did they allow him to re-appear last weekend before enacting a second suspension. It simply beggars belief.
Crown captain Kouch Sokumpheak visited a specialist surgeon in Ho Chi Minh City today and will go under the knife tomorrow for surgery to his knee ligament injury sustained in a challenge with Boeung Ket goalkeeper Peng Bunchhay on 11 July. It is believed the injury is to the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, and that the surgery will fix the damage. The likelihood for recovery from such a procedure/injury is six months of rehabilitation before being ready to make a return to the team. We will have to wait for the surgeon's opinion before we know for sure. Of course, we wish Sokumpheak the best of luck and a full recovery.

Homegrown coaches

Cambodia held its first-ever AFC A-licence coaching course as long ago as February. The coaching instructor was the Naga coach Prak Sovannara, the only accredited instructor in the country. It's believed up to ten Cambodian coaches qualified for their A-licence by passing the theory and practical sessions at the end of the month-long course, though the federation have not officially announced any results. The FFC spokesman dropped a hint when he said Cambodia now has ten A-licence coaches when recently discussing the national team head coach position, but still no formal confirmation has been forthcoming. Which seems very strange. I would've thought that if so many had passed the course on home soil, then the federation would've been shouting it from the rooftops. Qualifying for the A-licence is a big deal. The federation rarely give out any information unless pressed or prodded, which is disappointing as you'd think the home football body would be busting a gut to actively promote and celebrate its football successes.
Unofficially, I've been told that the ten homegrown coaches who passed the course are as follows, with their club affiliation in brackets: Prak Vuthy (Boeung Ket), Hok Sochetra (PKR), Keo Kosal (PKR), Phea Sopheaktra (PKR), Meas Channa (Naga), Long Rithea (Army), Tep Longrachana (Army), Ung Kanyanith (Nat Police), Kim Pheakdey (Chhlam Samuth), Hok Sochivorn (none). Amongst those who didn't qualify were Prak Sokmony, who recently led the Cambodia U-22 squad in the AFC Asian Cup, and BBU's Meas Samoeun. Twenty-six coaches began the course including coaches from Laos, Myanmar, Japan, Nigeria and Switzerland. Success on the course has certainly paid off for Hok Sochetra, who has since been appointed the national team head coach, whilst other successful attendees, Meas Channa and Hok Sochivorn, Sochetra's younger brother, have been taken on as the senior team's assistant coaches.

The Jet in charge

Blow me down with a feather. The Cambodian football federation never cease to surprise me. The federation president has just announced that the new head coach of the Cambodian national senior team will be Hok 'The Jet' Sochetra. Until recently he was a youth coach at Preah Khan Reach and number three in the Cambodian U-22s coaching set-up. In one quick blink of an eye he's been elevated to senior head coach. More on the appointment later. For the time being, here's a piece on the new boss that I did in November 2008, when he was coach of Post Tel. How times change.

The legendary Jet

Of the ten competing teams in the Cambodia Premier League, Post-Tel FC lie second from bottom. Even a name change in August from Intry Kraham Post FC hasn't done the trick, but at least they have as their coach, the most famous name in Cambodian football history. Hok 'The Jet' Sochetra is a legend in his homeland. His goal-scoring prowess saw him net 42 goals in 64 appearances for his country, even though for many of the games, he ended up on the losing side, such is Cambodia's form as one of the poorer teams in world soccer. Under German coach Joachim Fickert they did enjoy a flicker of success in the 1997 President's Cup and Southeast Asian Games and Sochetra was feted for his somersault celebration after scoring in a defeat to China. He stopped playing for the national team after the 2000 Tiger Cup competition when he landed a job with the Samart cell phone company, and his new employers refused to let him play for the team. He was just 26 years old. At the time experts rated him one of the top two strikers in Southeast Asian football and the telephone company had hired him for his popularity and promotional value, then refused to let him play! In the international wilderness, Sochetra gained weight and wasn't the same man when his employers relented and he received call-ups for a World Cup match against the Maldives and for the Tiger Cup in 2002. Lacking his renowned deadly finish in front of goal, Sochetra called it a day on the international scene despite his superlative scoring record and instead got on with a coaching role, both as an assistant coach to the Cambodian U-23 squad and as player-coach with the new Samart United team, who won the Cambodian League Championship in their first season in 2002. He spent a few seasons in charge at Samart, who changed their name to Hello United and then Phnom Penh Empire, playing sporadically until calling a halt to his playing career when taking over the reins at Intry Kraham Post, now called Post-Tel FC. If anyone can bring about a change in fortunes for the team by the sheer weight of their personality, then Hok 'The Jet' Sochetra can.

Who's in the frame?

The word on the street, so to speak, is that the Cambodia football federation will announce the name of the new head coach of the Cambodian national football team within the next week. It'll be good when they finally get around to doing it as the important AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers are coming up in three months time (5-13 October in Myanmar) and in between time we have the bulk of the second half of the Metfone C-League to get through, whilst Phnom Penh Crown will then be involved in the AFC President's Cup in late September and the National Police team are off to Vietnam for a cup tournament. Not exactly leaving the new head coach with much time to prepare. No doubt, the coach, once appointed, will want to test out various players for his senior squad and will call on the clubs to release their players for training and friendly matches. Which will be inconvenient to say the least, as the clubs go hell for leather to make the four play-off qualifying places in the domestic league championship and then the sudden death deciders. I can definitely see a club v country problem rearing its ugly head in the near future. Planning the season to allow the national team to prepare properly for these Suzuki Cup qualifiers obviously didn't enter the heads of the federation planners.

That said, the main interest will be the name of the new head coach. The federation spokesman has already stated that they want to go with a local man, claiming that the country is now suitably stocked with A-licence coaches who can do the job. If they believe their own hype then they are living in cloud cuckoo land. The country may now have ten or so coaches - no-one is quite sure as the federation haven't officially announced the results of an A-licence coaching course that was held here a few months ago - but having the certificate is a long way from being able to coach a national team in international matches. The one man with previous experience in the role is Prak Sovannara, the coach at Naga and the country's AFC coaching instructor. He must be in the frame for the top job again, as will no doubt his brother, Prak Sokmony, who recently returned from an unsuccessful AFC U-22 Asian Cup qualifying attempt in Laos as coach of the U-22s. Other names bandied about include Pen Phat, a Khmer national team player from the 1960s who's since resided in France and coached at lower league levels over there, whilst an outside bet might be Ieng Saknida, assistant coach in the ill-fated Lee Tae-Hoon era which is now drawing to an ignominious close. The main problem is that all of them, including Sovannara to an extent, lack the essential ingredient of solid international coaching acumen at a suitably high enough level. They simply don't have the benefit of coaching national teams under their belt. My preference would be for a proven foreign coach to come in, bringing his experience and brains to the team and to help guide some of the younger local coaches who could be groomed to take over at a later date. I don't believe Cambodian football is yet ready to stand on its own two feet at national team level - the country's FIFA ranking fell seventeen places to an all-time lowest position of 192 in this week's latest table - and it requires suitable experience, maturity, guile and expertise to recover from the disastrous series of results under the departing coach.

Cambodian football fans need to see some semblance of improvement in their national team. Everyone wants to see the team winning, but we have to walk before we can run and we have not seen anything to shout about for too long. In fact the senior team has not even played a competitive or friendly match for more than a year. So the Suzuki Cup in October will be a tough test, with Cambodia one of five teams seeking the two qualification places. Myanmar, Brunei, Laos and Timor Leste are the others. With a new coach, an unknown squad of players that are still to be determined, and just three months to gel it all together, the man that the federation finally get around to appointing, will certainly have his work cut out in order to succeed.

Fixture changes, again

Blow me down, the football federation have gone and done it again. They've dabbled once more with the fixture list for the second half of the Metfone C-League for some spurious reason that the Police team will be involved in some cup tournament in Vietnam. No details, just that it's a done deal. So now, Phnom Penh Crown will begin a few days earlier than expected on Saturday 7 July and will face Preah Khan Reach, rather than playing them in the final domestic encounter of the regular season. I have never known a football federation in any country make sweeping changes to the fixtures during the season, unless there has been a series of postponements due to bad weather. In the case of Cambodia, they had to amend a bunch of games because they forgot that the U-22 national team were playing in the AFC U-22 Cup, which was careless in the extreme, and now they have altered most teams fixtures again, because they've belatedly found out the Police will be playing away. Presumably they will not change the dates of the play-offs, but frankly, no-one has any idea what they will do next. They certainly have no idea.

C-League round-up

After the Phnom Penh Crown game on Saturday I headed off to the provinces so missed the remaining Metfone C-League matches at the weekend. National Police's 1-1 draw with Crown allowed NagaCorp to catch them up on Sunday afternoon and Naga now lead the league table on goal difference of +4. They came out on top, winning 3-0 against the Rubbermen of Boeung Ket who wilted under goals from Choun Chum (2) and Teab Vathanak. That leaves Chum at the top of the scorers chart with 13 goals. The Army and Chhlam Samuth played out a see-saw 3-3 draw with George Bisan netting twice and Sunday Ayodele scoring for the Navy team, with Army responding through Phlong Chanthou, Khek Khemarin and Pov Phearith. The 2nd match on Saturday went the way of Preah Khan, who scored all six goals in the 2nd half against 10-man Western Uni, after Maxwell Woko was dismissed before half-time. PKR shared the goals around with Tum Saray, Sok Chanraksmey, David Njoku, two from Khuon Laboravy and a last minute effort from Olawale Bologun. The midweek action this Wednesday sees the Cambodian U-22's meet their Philippines counterparts in a friendly game at Olympic Stadium at 4.30pm. Next weekend's C-League matches: Saturday - Kirivong v Army; Chhlam Samuth v Preah Khan: Sunday - Boeung Ket v Nat Police; PPCFC v Western Uni.

I hear that the Cambodian Football Federation and their friends from Metfone officially penned their continued sponsorship deal today, worth US$1.5million to the FFC over the next three years, starting in 2013. Metfone, a Vietnamese telecoms giant, have sponsored the Cambodian Premier League for the last three years to the tune of the same amount. I'm still waiting to hear details of the Federation's inclusive 5-10 year development plan for Cambodian football incorporating grassroots and all levels up to the national team. Perhaps they can spend a slice of the Metfone money on getting this completed and shipped out to all interested parties, so we know what direction Cambodian football is heading in the future. That would be a start wouldn't it.

Services no longer required

Lee Tae-Hoon - his services will not be required any longer

I've just heard some news, late in the day, which has brought some relief from a very trying period in Cambodian football that pretty much everyone will want to forget. I'm referring to the reign of the Cambodian national football coach, Lee Tae-Hoon, over the past twenty-one months since his appointment in August 2010. I understand the head coach's contract will not be renewed when it comes to an end next month. This was a contract extension granted by the federation a year ago, though it's believed the bulk of the salary was donated by the South Korean FA. From the beginning, his stint in charge went pretty much nowhere. Aside from a home win over Laos in the World Cup, results from the games under his supervision in the big competitions such as the AFF Suzuki Cup, the AFC Challenge Cup, the FIFA World Cup and the SEA Games were an unmitigated disaster and left Cambodia lagging well behind their international team peers. There were no redeeming features of his time in charge that spring readily to mind - though his loyalty from the players never diminished - and in a results-driven business like football, the writing was on the wall over a year ago, and before he signed that contract extension. Why it has taken this long for the football federation to act is beyond my reasoning. Only they can answer the charges that should be levelled against them by every Cambodian football fan. Now we must await the deliberations of those same football authorities to see who will lead Cambodia at the AFF Suzuki Cup qualifiers, to be held in Myanmar between 5-13 October. The word is that they will seek a local coach to take charge. The fate of the nation's football future rests in their hands. It doesn't bear thinking about.

To host or not - that is the question

I've already posed the question as to whether Cambodia could conceivably host the AFC President's Cup final stage and the simple answer is yes it can, but there is a massive question mark over the existing facilities at the Olympic Stadium. The AFC have already asked the half a dozen federations representing the six finalists whether they are willing to host the Final Stage and require an answer by this coming Friday. The AFC have previously held the Final Stage in four of the countries who have qualified, leaving Cambodia and Palestine as the two countries that have not yet hosted the AFC President's Cup Final. That is in our favour. However, the AFC have very clear guidelines on the stadia requirements to host the Final Stages and this is where Cambodia may be found wanting. There are some very obvious failures with the existing facilities. Let's start with the stadium floodlights, which require a minimum average of 1200 lux (the system for measuring the illumination of the lights at the stadium) and would require a major overhaul of the existing lighting, which is currently considerably less than the required levels. This is especially important as matches in the Final Stages are usually played in the evening. Next are the dressing rooms for the teams and match officials. The current dressing rooms at the Olympic Stadium are unsuitable at this moment in time. To meet AFC requirements they would need to equip four dressing rooms with air-con, a fridge, massage tables, at least four showers and individual toilets and seating for at least thirty players and officials. Similar facilities would be required for the referees and linesmen. There would also need to be professional media facilities put in place ranging from a media room with air-con for up to 70 persons with desks, communication facilities including wireless broadband internet connections, to an air-conditioned press conference room and of course an area in the main stand, set aside for up to 70 press seats, fifty of them with desks with power supplies and internet. There would also need to be six enclosed rooms with air-con for television and radio commentary positions. To be frank, the list becomes almost endless when you include requirements for a fully-equipped medical room, doping control room, a VIP room for fifty people, fixed to the floor seats for spectators, dedicated access for disabled spectators, a stadia control room, proper signage, toilet facilities that conform to a ratio of one seated toilet per 200 spectators and one urinal per 125 spectators and so on. Oh, I nearly forgot the pitch, which the AFC demand must have suitable drainage to avoid flooding. The Olympic Stadium was allowed to be used for the qualifying competition but for the Final Stages the AFC will presumably demand these basic standards. The facilities at Taiwan's Kaohsiung Stadium last year were world class by comparison to the Olympic Stadium and is the level that all countries should aspire to. I have no idea of how much it would cost to bring Cambodia's national stadium up to scratch, but it wouldn't come cheap. I'm told that there is a desire to bring the finals here, so it remains to be seen if the AFC look kindly on Cambodia's application to host the Final Stage, rather than the claims of Chinese Taipei, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan or Palestine. The finals are scheduled for 24-30 September.

Common sense prevails

The football federation here in Cambodia appear to have received an infusion of common sense. Their original fixture list for the Metfone C-League season did not take into account the participation of the Cambodian U-22 team in the brand new AFC U-22 Asian Cup competition, with Cambodia involved in Group F to be played in Laos towards the end of June. Presumably someone must've switched on the lights for them and they've now confirmed major amendments to the C-League fixtures for the second half of the season. There will be no matches whilst the U-22s are in Laos - they play five matches between 23 June and 3 July - and for Phnom Penh Crown their fixture list for the rest of the season has been changed to the following:

Wed 6 June v Army - 2.30pm
Sat 9 June v National Police - 2.30pm
Sun 17 June v Western Uni - 4.30pm
Wed 11 July v Boeung Ket - 3pm
Sat 21 July v Chhlam Samuth - 4.30pm
Sat 28 July v BBU - 2.30pm
Sat 4 August v Kirivong - 2.30pm
Sun 12 August v Army - 2.30pm
Sun 19 August v NagaCorp - 4.30pm
Sat 25 August v Preah Khan Reach - 2.30pm

Can Cambodia host?

Major surgery at the Olympic Stadium would be required

Could Cambodia host the AFC President's Cup final stage? That was a question on many lips both last year and again this year, once Phnom Penh Crown made it through to the final round. It's not inconceivable, especially as the likelihood is that four of the probable finalists this year have hosted the final stage before. AFC are keen to take the final to a new country every year, which may leave the door ajar for Cambodia. But is it that simple? The quick answer is no, it's not. Whilst the AFC provide a lump sum of money to the host national federation to stage the finals, they also expect suitable standards when it comes to playing facilities and so on. And that's essentially where Cambodia falls down. A few things that readily spring to mind that would have to improve dramatically would be the floodlights, which simply do not achieve the necessary lux value (measuring the illumination of the lights at the stadium) to stage international matches, and games in the final stage are played at night. The dressing rooms for the teams and match officials would need a complete overhaul, with proper shower and toilet facilities installed for starters. The current dressing rooms at the Olympic Stadium are totally unsuitable. The press facilities, with internet connections and work stations, are non-existent at present and would need serious attention, as would controlled entry and exit points for spectators at the stadium. And I haven't even mentioned the pitch itself, which we have all seen this week, finds it very hard to cope with a downpour. These points and others would need to be addressed and corrected before the AFC could feasibly agree to staging the six-team finals and seven matches that would be required at the Olympic Stadium, in my opinion. And all of that would require a serious investment of cash to bring the facilities up to a basic acceptable standard.