Fierce debate over Thailand U22 owed nearly 3 billion VND in SEA Games bonus

According to the Main Stand newspaper, before the 32nd SEA Games, the Thai Sports Development Fund offered rewards to athletes with high achievements. Specifically, each athlete who won a gold medal received 300,000 baht (equivalent to 200 million VND) in bonus money. Next, those who won a silver medal received 200,000 baht (equivalent to 140 million VND) and those who won a bronze medal received 150,000 baht (100 million).

U22 Thailand's bonus was "detained" after the fight with Indonesia (Photo: Manh Quan).

By winning the silver medal at the 32nd SEA Games, the entire Thai team received more than 4 million baht (equivalent to 2.8 billion VND). However, even though the tournament has been over for half a year, the "War Elephants" have yet to receive a single penny in prize money.

Explaining this issue, Mr. Kongsak Yodmanee, head of the Thai Sports Development Fund, affirmed that he would not reward the Thai U22 players for participating in fights, damaging the image of national sports.

A few months ago, Mr. Kongsak Yodmanee declared: "We do not pay bonuses to U22 Thailand because they created an ugly image in the final match with U22 Indonesia. Athletes in other sports all receive bonuses."

Months have passed since the Thai U22 players received their punishment, but the team has yet to receive their bonuses (Photo: Manh Quan).

At that time, the Thai Sports Development Fund confirmed that it would consider the bonus issue with the Thai U22 team after the disciplinary decision. Players who received disciplinary decisions would have 30% of the bonus deducted.

However, while many Thai players have completed their punishment from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the team has yet to receive their bonuses.

When asked again about this issue, Mr. Kongsak Yodmanee affirmed: "There has been no meeting to finalize this issue. We will soon transfer the money to the players." However, the head of the Thai Sports Development Fund did not give a specific time.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/tranh-cai-gay-gat-vu-u22-thai-lan-bi-no-gan-3-ty-dong-tien-thuong-sea-games-20231111182108693.htm