Thailand will host the 33rd SEA Games from December 9 to December 20, 2025. The last time the Thai team won the gold medal in men's football in the Southeast Asian region was in 2017, so at this tournament held at home, expectations for the War Elephants are very high.
Sharing with Thai media, Director General of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) Kongsak Yodmanee said that the format of men's football should be changed so that players can compete in the best physical condition.
Instead of dividing into 2 groups, each group has 5-6 teams, the tournament should divide the teams into 3 groups (each group has 3-4 teams). This way, the players will avoid having to compete with a frequency of 2 matches/day, maintaining their physical strength for the following rounds.
Changing the format will have to wait for information from the Thai Olympic Committee, need to plan to propose a new system, but also depends on the budget for organizing the tournament.
"For football, the first rounds could be held in other cities outside Bangkok, but the FAT has proposed to us that the medal stage will be moved to the Rajamangala National Stadium," added Kongsak Yodmanee.
The country's media reported that FAT confirmed that men's football teams will only be allowed to use players under 22 years old, with no over-age slots at the 33rd SEA Games.
The last time men's football won a gold medal was at the 29th SEA Games hosted by Malaysia in 2017. They reached the final in both of the most recent editions but lost to Vietnam in the 31st SEA Games, and to Indonesia in the 32nd SEA Games.
