Warriors coach Lee rejects ‘fake’ resign claims
LEE Tae Hoon, the coach of the Cambodian national football team, yesterday took to the official Facebook page of the country’s football federation to deny recent rumours on social media that he wanted to resign.
In a live video posted on the Football Federation of Cambodia’s Facebook page, the South Korean coach, whose contract expires this month, said: “I think some media wrongly picked up my meaning, so many people misunderstood. People [gave] wrong information to the fans.”
Lee said that some media “published incorrectly” and “misunderstood what he said” when he spoke to journalists on Monday after returning from the 2016 Suzuki Cup, although the 55 yearold coach did not clarify which media he was referring to.
He went on to say that a “fake” account on Facebook carrying the name “Taehoon Lee” that criticised the national side’s players and carried a threat to quit was not a social media account of his, adding that he doesn’t have the time to post on Facebook.
Lee, who is in his second stint with the national side after a term from 2010 to 2012 before being reappointed by the FFC in 2013, said that he wanted to improve the quality of the team’s play.
He said: “For me, I am a foreigner from South Korea but I work in Cambodia and I teach Cambodian football players. I always think about the future of Cambodian football. So media should write a true story to help develop the sport in the country.”
With speculation rife after the recent Suzuki Cup, for which the Angkor Warriors qualified for the first time since 2008 but who recorded three losses in their campaign to go out in the group stage, Lee said that far from wanting to leave his job, he wanted to take the national side to “the next level”.
“I have a good relationship with president Sao Sokha and the Federation. I like football and I love Cambodian fans. We are going to discuss a new contract, and if I don’t want to stay, I don’t need to discuss this [in public].
“My task is to help [football] in Cambodia,” he said. “If I get the chance, I want to stay in Cambodia a long time. I want to improve Cambodian football and it is not easy, so we need support from the fans.”