Thai sports embroiled in bonus embezzlement scandal before SEA Games 33: Police involved

Bonus from 2 million baht to 100,000 baht

According to Suebsak Phansueb, Thai sepak takraw athletes won 7 gold medals at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China (taking place in 2023). According to the regulations, each gold medal is awarded 2 million baht (about 1.6 billion VND). But in reality, the athletes only received 100,000 baht (about 81 million VND). While the remaining amount of up to 1.9 million baht (about more than 1.5 billion VND) was "withheld" by a group of people for unknown reasons.

Photo: Siamsport screenshot

To date, nearly 2 years have passed, and the "withheld" money has not been returned to the athletes by this group of people. At the same time, the Thai Sepak Takraw Federation also established an investigation team to clarify who the withheld prize money fell into and how it was used. However, the investigation has lasted for 2 years and still has no clear explanation.

Suebsak Phansueb said that he posted the incident once on social media to call for help. Thereby, he shocked Thai sports fans with the unacceptable embezzlement of prize money. At the same time, he and the athletes involved also sent a report to the police to ask for an investigation to clarify the truth. The police report was submitted by Mr. Suebsak Phansueb and the athletes to Khlong Luang police station, Pathum Thani province on August 19.

"I want the money to be returned as soon as possible because this is the athletes' right, and they have been waiting for a long time," Suebsak Phansueb told Siamsport . In addition, Mr. Thana Chaiprasit, President of the Sepak Takraw Federation of Thailand, also called on all relevant parties to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Thai Olympic Committee seeks to resolve athlete subsidy issue at SEA Games 33

According to Mr. Chaiphak Siriwat, Vice President of the Thai National Committee, the delay in paying the allowances to athletes preparing for the 33rd SEA Games for more than 4 months now is due to the current changes of the country's Sports Development Fund in the disbursement process. A total of more than 40 million baht (about 32.4 billion VND) in training allowances and coaching fees have been owed since March.

However, this problem has not been resolved yet, causing things to continue to drag on and Thai athletes who are training to prepare for the 33rd SEA Games are getting more and more tired of waiting.

According to Siamsport , the Thai Olympic Committee is expected to hold a meeting with member federations on August 25 to find a way to resolve the current issue of concern for Thai athletes. They hope that this matter will be resolved before August 31.