INDIA: The All India Football Federation has apologized to the Football Federation of Cambodia for any inconvenience caused to the Cambodian players during their trip to India. Those issues include the lack of a proper reception for Cambodian players, and a problem which occurred while playing the Cambodian national anthem at the start of the match.

In a letter sent on Wednesday, 8 June, Anil Kamat, the Assistant General Secretary of the All India Football Federation and Captain of the 2023 Asian Championships, thanked the Cambodian team for its cooperation in resolving the issue surrounding their hotel arrangement in Kolkata, and said he will ensure that such incidents do not occur again in the future.

The match director also apologized for the issue which occurred while playing the Cambodian National Anthem before the match.

"The issues related in playing the Cambodian National Anthem were discussed with the technical team and was informed that it was due to technical fault at the screen," he wrote. "Our entire team will work hard to see that such incidents are not repeated during the remaining matches of the Competition and at the team hotel."

On Wednesday night, when Cambodia played against India in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup final qualifying round, the Cambodian national anthem did not play when it was supposed to due to technical issues which postponed the game for 7 minutes. Since this incident, Cambodian people have expressed great dissatisfaction with host India's shortcomings.

Hun Many, Member of Parliament and President of the Union Youth Federations of Cambodia, called on his compatriots to be patient, wait for an explanation and focus on supporting the Cambodian national football team in the next two games, following the incident with the Cambodian national anthem.

According to a message posted by Hun Many on his Facebook page on Friday morning, 9 June, when a football match is won or lost, it is part of the game, while the level of hospitality received depends on the host country or venue. He said, at the very least, one "must be very careful when it comes to playing the national anthem for the visiting country."

He wrote, "I watched closely what happened yesterday during the AFC Asian Cup, when Cambodia played India, and what happened during the Cambodian national anthem. Whether it was a bug or a technical problem, I hope there is enough explanation for this."

Hun Many said that he supports the Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) seeking further answers and explanations from the AFC and the host country, who will be on high alert for future events to prevent such a problem from occurring again for all teams.

In addition, he asked the President of the Football Federation of Cambodia, General Sao Sokha, to continue taking all necessary measures to protect the Cambodian national team when they go abroad.

The 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup will take place in 2023, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The football competition will run from 16 June to 16 July 2023. The tournament will feature 24 national teams following the expansion of the AFC Asian Cup in 2019, including the host country. Qatar is the current defending champions.

^{PHOTO: សហព័ន្ធកីឡាបាល់ទាត់កម្ពុជា}