The Cambodian national volleyball team has officially been withdrawn from the list of sports Cambodia will send to compete in the 33rd SEA Games 2025 in Thailand, scheduled from December 9 to 20. This means the team — which once won silver and bronze at the games — will not have the chance to repeat their success.
Although the Cambodian Volleyball Federation has not issued an official statement regarding the withdrawal, the latest report from Nhan Sokvisal, Cambodia’s chef de mission, confirmed that Cambodia will take part in only 12 sports, and volleyball is not among them.
The 12 sports Cambodia will compete in are athletics, swimming, equestrian, Kun Lbokator, gymnastics, taekwondo (WT), kickboxing, jet ski, jiu-jitsu, table football, triathlon and e-sports, with a total of 137 delegates and athletes.
Volleyball is the ninth sport to be withdrawn, according to a November 26 from by the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) to Dato’ Seri Chaiyapak Siriwat, CEO of the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF). The committee cited major concerns over security and safety in the letter.
“We write to officially inform SEAGF that Cambodia will participate in thirteen (13) sports and withdraw from the eight (8) sports listed below. This adjustment is made due to serious security concerns that pose challenges to ensuring the safety and protection of our athletes and officials,” said NOCC secretary-general Vath Chamroeun in the letter.
Meanwhile, chef de mission Sokvisal — who travelled to Bangkok on December 1 for meetings and to finalise the number of delegates and athletes who will attend the games — stated that Cambodia’s accommodation and meals during the Games will receive “special arrangements compared to other countries”.
“Cambodian delegates and athletes will all stay together without separation by sport. Accommodation and competition venues are spread across two locations: Bangkok and Chonburi province,” he explained, via a statement on the NOCC website on Wednesday afternoon.
Sokvisal noted that during his meetings, he discussed security and safety measures for the Cambodian delegation and athletes during the SEA Games, with full support from the host country’s authorities at both the hotels and during travel. Chamroeun is scheduled to attend an SEAGF Council meeting on December 8.
