MANILA – The Philippines’ lack of preparedness for the 30th Southeast Asian Games hosting was on full display with football players from Cambodia, Myanmar, Timor Leste and, Thailand receiving lousy welcome.
The Myanmar-based Duwun Sports released on Saturday evening a picture of the Myanmar under-23 national football team waiting inside what looked like a cramped vehicle.
“The team had to wait for a car for a long time upon their arrival at the airport. The situation was very uncomfortable,” it wrote. “The team was supposed to practice Saturday night but will no longer be able to do so due to delays.”
Thailand’s national football team wrote in its Instagram account that they were also forced to cancel their training due to the slow pace of processing of their arrival documents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“The distance from the accommodation to the training field takes two hours… It is the result of [a] change in program to the players to stretch the line,” the caption read.
Timor Leste’s football team also encountered problems. They waited for almost two hours at NAIA for their bus. Not only that, the driver of the bus took the players to the wrong hotel.
Also, pictures of members of Cambodia’s under-23 football team sleeping on the carpet of a hotel went viral online since their accommodation wasn’t ready yet upon their arrival.
Football players started to arrive over the weekend since the competition is scheduled to start today at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium and Biñan Football Stadium./PN
