On behalf of the President of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia - NOCC, I would like to thank all those who supported the decision to withdraw and return to the country of all our delegates and athletes from the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand.
In fact, the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia is one of the 11 member countries of the Southeast Asian Sports Federation Council among 11 member countries. The National Olympic Committee of Cambodia works for the Olympic Movement in collaboration with the National Sports Federation and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, but must also be under the political leadership of the Royal Government because the NOCC is a national committee.
The SEA Games are the prerogative of the Southeast Asian Sports Council, not the prerogative of the host, but the Southeast Asian Sports Council must cooperate with the host to seek support for the opening and closing ceremonies, hospitality (accommodation, food, transportation), security and safety for delegates and athletes with equality, without discrimination against small or large countries or ethnic groups. The Royal Government of Cambodia, under the wise leadership of Samdech Techo Hun Sen, former Prime Minister and current President of the Senate, has fulfilled his role and duties very well in supporting the Southeast Asian Sports Council and the Olympic Movement as the host country and as a member of ASEAN in organizing the 32nd SEA Games and the 2023 ASEAN Para Games in Cambodia.
Participating in the event of SEA Games, even in small numbers, is already fulfilling the obligations as the member of the Southeast Asian Sports Council, especially participating in the meeting of the Southeast Asian Sports Council and participation in the flag-raising ceremony of member countries, and also participating in the opening ceremony of the event. Therefore, neither the Southeast Asian Sports Council, the Olympic Council of Asia-OCA, the International Olympic Committee-IOC, nor other Olympic sports organizations can not criticize or accuse Cambodia of withdrawing its delegates and athletes, because our obligations have been fulfilled. But this is because of our athletes who participated did not feel safe, emotionally, and will not participate in the competition anymore because it is very difficult to compete in a host country that is currently invading their beloved country, making our athletes unable to fully demonstrate their sporting qualities.
Therefore, the decision of withdraw the Cambodian delegates and athletes at this time is in line with the International Olympic Committee's Athlete Safeguarding Policy, which guarantees to prevent the security, athletes, both physical, emotional and psychological of athletes participating in the international sporting events. At the same time, the IOC's core principles also clearly state that athletes are the heart of the Olympic Movement, requiring support and protection both on and off the field. Therefore, Cambodia's decision to withdraw from the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand is in line with the IOC's Olympic Charter and the spirit of the Olympic Movement.
Please confirm that, the Royal Government of Cambodia has also boycotted to participate in the first Southeast Asian Peninsular Games (now renamed SEA Games) in 1959 in Bangkok, Thailand, due to concerns about the safety of the Cambodian sports delegation due to the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over the claim to the Preah Vihear Temple.
