With only a few weeks left until the 33rd SEA Games start on home soil, Thai sports are facing a series of internal problems that have made domestic public concerns about the ability to complete the performance target.
Recently, fitness trainer Itthirit Khamsiriat, his father and personal coach held a press conference to protest the decision to remove him from the list of participants in the 33rd SEA Games. Itthirit's family said that the selection process of the Thai figurehead Sports Tools Federation was unfair, because their son was a top athlete in the country but was only placed on the bench.
In addition, the fact that a Japanese-born athlete, Fuka Nomura, was named in the squad list even though he did not participate in the qualifying round also raised doubts about the transparency in personnel selection. However, the federation said that the loaification of Itthirit was based on actual performance, while Nomura was granted special allowances due to training and professional capacity monitoring in Japan.
Not only did she have the tools to do physical exercise, but the Thai badminton team also had a controversy when many key players refused to participate in the SEA Games due to conflicts related to financial support regimes. After that, the federation was forced to negotiate to stabilize the situation.
In the context of Thailand targeting more than 250 gold medals at this tournament, consecutive troubles within the teams have caused the media and fans to express concern that the country's sports will find it difficult to achieve the expected results.
