The Cambodia Under-22 national football team departed for Hanoi, Vietnam, on Tuesday, October 7. The squad will train and play practice matches until October 14, as part of preparations for the 33rd SEA Games, scheduled to take place in Thailand in December 2025 — despite Cambodia having not yet officially confirmed its participation in the event.
A total of 25 players have been selected from 10 Cambodian Premier League clubs to join the training camp.
Visakha FC has contributed the largest number, with 5 players, while Phnom Penh Crown, NagaWorld, Royal Cambodian Armed Forces FC and Life FC (Preah Sihanouk) have each sent 3. Two players have each joined from Boeng Ket, Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng and ISI Dangkor Senchey, while one representative each from Angkor Tiger and MOI Kampong Deva have joined the camp.
Most of the 25 players were part of the squad that represented Cambodia in the AFC U23 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 qualifiers, which Cambodia hosted from September 3–9.
The young Kouprey finished second in the group, defeating Pakistan 1–0 and drawing 0–0 with both Oman and Iraq.
Chhouk Piseth, general manager of the team, said that during the week-long camp in Hanoi, the U22 side will play two friendly matches against Vietnamese league clubs to sharpen their technical abilities.
“During the training camp in Vietnam, our national team will play two friendly matches with clubs from the Vietnamese league. Our focus in this camp is to prepare for the upcoming SEA Games at the end of this year,” he told The Post on Tuesday.
“As of now, we have not received any official information saying that we will not participate in the SEA Games in Thailand. Therefore, we must continue our preparations, so we are ready for the competition,” he added.
The 33rd SEA Games are scheduled for December 9–20, 2025, in Thailand. However, Cambodia’s National Olympic Committee (NOCC) and related institutions have not yet confirmed how many sports or athletes the country will send, saying the final decision depends on the evolving Cambodia–Thailand border situation, which remains tense as Thai forces continue incursions which compromise Cambodia’s territorial integrity.
On August 19, Thai media outlet Kaosod English quoted Chaipak Siriwat, executive director of the Southeast Asian Games Federation, as saying that the Thai hosts had asked Cambodia to reduce its delegation from 1,600 to 200 for security reasons. The newspaper also reported that Cambodia had already cut its team to 57 athletes due to instability along the border.
However, Vat Chamroeun, Secretary-General of the NOCC, denied those reports, calling them false.
“We have not confirmed any exact number of athletes who will or will not participate in the 2025 SEA Games. We are still waiting for a decision from the Royal Government of Cambodia,” he told local media, on August 20.
