Cambodian athletes face difficulties such as bad meals, low subsidy

26/2/2008

The Cambodian athletes are facing many difficulties such as bad meals, low subsidy and few coaches, which lead to poor achievements in international sports events, local media reported today.Cambodian athletes mainly come from poor families, so they were underfed from a child, the Cambodia Sin Chew Daily newspaper said, citing sports analysts.An athlete of the national team has only 15,000 riels (about US$3.75) per day as meal fees, some analysts said, adding that it should be increased to 25,000 riels (about US$6.25).Many athletes have to do part-time jobs because the subsidy of 120,000 riels (about US$30) a month is not enough for them to make a living, they said.As a result, the Cambodian athletes can not concentrate on their trainings therefore they are not able to get good scores in games, they added.In addition, Cambodian national teams can not afford to employ good coaches because of lack of money, the newspaper said.Meanwhile, Thong Khon, Cambodian Tourism Minister and President of the Cambodian Olympic Committee, said that the government will try to improve the training condition of athletes and help them to have better performance.Cambodia will be well prepared for the Southeast Asian Games in 2009 and the Asian Games in 2010 to win more medals, Thong Khon said.The Cambodian athletes have won 93 medals in all from various international sports events since 1993, including 18 medals in the Southeast Asian Games in 2007.