Vietnamese football players training in HCM City. They will leave for Bangkok instead of Songkhla for the SEA Games tournament. — Photo courtesy of VFF

HÀ NỘI — The 33rd SEA Games football competitions set to begin in Thailand in December have been affected by recent flooding, with Việt Nam's matches moved to Bangkok instead of the southern coastal province of Songkhla. Meanwhile, Cambodia has withdrawn entirely due to security concerns.

Following serious floods in Songkhla Province that have affected all of the competition venues and other facilities, the organising committee has decided to reschedule and move all Group B matches to Bangkok.

Laos, Malaysia and Việt Nam are all in Group B for the regional competition.

The match between Việt Nam and Laos will be held on December 3 instead of December 4, while the second match will still be played on December 11. 

Semi-finals and the final will be held on December 15 and 18.

All of the matches will be hosted at Rajamangala National Stadium, the largest sports venue by capacity in the country.

Việt Nam's team are currently in intensive training in HCM City, and will leave for Thailand on December 1.

Another big change in the tournament's football event is the withdrawal of Cambodia, which was announced through the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC).

The Kingdom of Cambodia has officially altered its plans for the Games to participate in just 13 events, after originally intending to compete in 21 sports. Football is one of eight sports that will now see no competitors from the Kingdom.

“We are writing to officially inform SEAGF that Cambodia will participate in 13 sports and withdraw from eight sports. This adjustment was made due to major security concerns, which pose challenges to guaranteeing the safety and protection of our athletes and officials,” read a NOCC letter sent to the organisers.

“This patriotic but difficult decision was made by the leadership to ensure Cambodia can still participate while guaranteeing the highest level of safety for our delegation. We hope the Cambodian public understands and graciously accepts this difficult decision.”

Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia escalated earlier this year due to a longstanding border dispute, with an armed confrontation leading to numerous military and civilian casualties in July.

Without Cambodia, Group A includes just Timor-Leste and hosts Thailand.

At an organising committee meeting on November 27, Director General of the Sports Authority of Thailand Kongsak Yodmanee proposed transferring Singapore, seeded in the fourth pot, to Group A, creating three groups of three teams.

The Thai side said it is awaiting approval from the Asian Football Confederation before formally notifying member associations.

The women’s football draw remains unchanged. Following Cambodia's withdrawal, Group A now consists of Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, while Group B includes Việt Nam, Myanmar, the Philippines and Malaysia.

In addition to football, nine other sports have been relocated because of the flooding. They are boxing, pencak silat, chess, judo, kabaddi, karate, wrestling, petanque and wushu. —  VNS