Khon re-elected NOCC president as SEA Games dominate Assembly
AS THE current administration sought another mandate from 2018 to 2022 at the General Assembly of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) yesterday at the Morodok Techo National Sports Complex, high on the agenda was the Kingdom’s drive towards the successful hosting of the 32nd SEA Games in 2023.
The morning session, which opened with a welcome address from NOCC President and Minister of Tourism Thong Khon, featured a wide-ranging presentation by the head of the Cambodia SEA Games Organizing Committee (Camsoc) and National Defence Minister Tea Banh about the preparations and logistical groundwork in progress under the master plan already approved by the government.
Incumbent NOCC President Khon was re-elected unopposed for the 2018-22 mandate at the annual Assembly, as Deputy Prime Minister and National Defence Minister Tea Banh laid out the logistical road map towards the 2023 SEA Games Cambodia will be hosting for the first time.
Strategic plan for 2018-22
Thanking the delegates for their overwhelming support and faith in his leadership, the NOCC president reappointed Vath Chamroeun for the term as secretary-general, and hailed the dynamic role the top administrator and former wrestling Olympian had been playing in raising the country’s sports profile.
“Continuity is vital for building momentum as we stake our national pride on the smooth and success- ful conduct of the SEA Games and achieve the strategic goals we are setting out for the next five years,” Khon said.
Deputy Prime Minister Banh, who was named by Prime Minister Hun Sen to head Camsoc, took the assembly through the road map towards the biggest logistical challenges the country had ever undertaken in the field of sports.
“I highly appreciate the efforts of the NOCC, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, national federations and organisations related to sports. They all promote Cambodian sports to the world. We must work together. We must keep in mind our national prestige,” Banh said.
The new administration also rolled out its strategic plan for the next four years in the run up to the 32nd SEA Games.
The master plan includes moves to initiate action against federations that are either underperforming or dormant. More medals are to be targeted in the 2019 Manila SEA Games and the 2021 edition in Vietnam.
It will also be ensured that national federations cooperate closely with the Ministry of Sport and CAMSOC in improving efficiency
More sponsors will be sought for activities and sports events, while National Games will be organised every two years. The Kingdom will also be targeting at least one medal in the 2018 and 2021 Asian Games.
Medal projections
Following a series of meetings with national federations involved in both Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines over the past couple of months, the NOCC in consultation with the Ministry of Sport presented to the assembly their medal expectations in the next two editions of the SEA Games in the Philippines and Vietnam leading up to the home Games in 2023.
Listing 34 disciplines, the 2019 Manila Games target has been set at 22 medals, while for 2021 in Vietnam, the bar has been set at 56.
For the 2023 Games, the country is aiming for 96 medals.
Khon read out the Royal decree on the formation of Camsoc and its powers, tasks and responsibilities.
Representatives from almost all the affiliated federations of the NOCC attended the one-day assembly, which reviewed activities during the previous term, took up reports on finance, women and sports commissions, and sports medicine and science, before approving the final mandate.
Also on the agenda during the session was the appointment of two councillors to the NOCC.
And of great significance was the presentation of cash prizes for the KL 2017 SEA Games medallists, as promised before the Games by Vice President of the NOCC Gordon Tang, who is to also donate laptops to national federations.
While the floor of the assembly focused on the role and tasks for the ensuing mandate at the start of the afternoon session, NOCC secretarygeneral Chamroeun reported on several meetings he and representatives from the sports ministry have had with national federations over the past few months before opening the floor for more discussions on consequential issues.
The secretary-general also presented an in-depth treatise on the 2023 SEA Games master plan before the NOCC’s strategies and priorities for the term was presented to the Assembly.