PHNOM PENH: Hosts Cambodia's conspicuous usage of foreign athletes at the ongoing Sea Games is not good for the Asean spirit.
This was stated by sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli who pointed out that the objective of Asean is to strengthen unity among its 10 countries.
"Cambodia hiring imported athletes to win as many gold medals as possible does not strengthen the relationships among Asean countries," he said today.
"Cambodia is too ambitious to win gold, they will do anything to finish among the top three in the medal tally."
With five more days of the Sea Games remaining, Cambodia have bagged a whopping 56 gold medals and are second in the medal table to Vietnam who have 58 gold.
"Cambodia have set a precedent in the Sea Games that it's okay to hire foreign athletes by giving them PR or citizenship for a short time to win medals," said Pekan.
"In future other countries which are not strong in sports like Myanmar, Laos and Timor Leste will do the same when they host the Sea Games.
"This does not show true sportsmanship in sports."
Cambodia is hosting the ongoing Sea Games for the first time, and more than half of its contingent are imports from countries like the United States, India, Pakistan, China and other nations.
Cambodia have raised eyebrows by fielding foreign athletes in cricket, hockey, basketball, volleyball, badminton and other sports.
Just imagine this. Cambodia's all conquering 3x3 women's squad consist of four "American tourists" — Brittany Dinkins, Kimberly Hanlon, Mariah Cooks and Meighan Simmons.
Pekan said there are no proper rules and guidelines in the Sea Games Federation that prohibit a country fielding foreign athletes.
"Basically the rules allow countries to take the opportunity to hire foreigners.
"Cambodia has spent a lot of money to host the Sea Games for the first time, and of course which host country does not want to win as many gold medals as possible?
"The government of Cambodia wants to please their people by showing that they can host the Sea Games and win a lot of gold. They also want to justify that they have spent the money wisely for the Games with good returns.
"And Cambodia is not the first country in the region that hire foreign athletes to win medals.
"Other countries have done it before. . Singapore have China-born naturalised table tennis players. A few athletes have dual citizenship, American and Filipino. Yet they are allowed to compete in the Sea Games.
"Look at our national football team, most of the players are naturalised players from other countries.
"We (Malaysia) have also given PR to foreign athletes to win medals in the Sea Games. Yuan Yufang is a China-born athlete who has won many gold in long distance and walk events in the Sea Games.
"We also had Russian-born shooter Irina Maharani who was given Malaysian citizenship in 1998, and she represented Malaysia in the 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
"For me, overall it's not a good objective to hire foreign athletes as it is against the Asean spirit and unity. Hiring imports to just win medals will also not benefit the development of local athletes in sports." Pekan added