According to Mr. Kongsak Yodmanee, Governor of SAT: "Despite the age limit of U.22 in men's football at the 2025 SEA Games, the host Thai youth team still has all the potential to aim for the gold medal."
Madam Pang supports the Thai team at the AFF Cup 2024, she is determined to strengthen the youth team to win the SEA Games 2025 gold medal.
Thai men's football has won 16 gold medals so far, the most compared to other opponents in the Southeast Asian region. However, the last time the "War Elephants" won a gold medal in men's football in a regional tournament was in 2017 in Malaysia. Meanwhile, in the last 3 SEA Games including 2019, 2021 and 2023, the Vietnamese youth team (2 consecutive gold medals) and Indonesia won the championship once.
Therefore, in the 2025 edition (scheduled to take place from December 9 to 20), Thailand, the host of the 33rd SEA Games, has set a goal for the U.22 team to regain the gold medal in men's football. Not only men's football, women's football, men's futsal and women's futsal, SAT also set a goal for the Thai teams to win all gold medals.
"Regarding the plans to prepare and compete in football at the 2025 SEA Games, I have not discussed with the Football Association of Thailand (FAT). But as far as I know, at that time we are still focusing on using young players at the age of U.22. I believe that there are many Thai players with potential and are still young. They have a chance to win the gold medal," Mr. Kongsak Yodmanee told Siamsport in a recent interview.
Also according to Mr. Kongsak Yodmanee: "For men's football at the 2025 SEA Games, there is a proposal to divide into 3 groups, with each group having 3 teams or a group of 4 teams, instead of 2 groups of 5 teams and 6 teams as before, competing at such a high frequency that it affects the health of the players.
This will be consulted with the FAT before a decision is made. In addition, after the group stage, the semi-finals and finals are planned to take place only at Rajamangala Stadium. However, proposals and competition plans will await confirmation of the number of teams participating in men's football at the 2025 SEA Games."
The Thai team lost the AFF Cup championship to the Vietnamese team, while at the SEA Games for 8 years now they have not won back the gold medal.
"It's not just FAT. As it is now, all other sports associations have full authority to plan and organize competitions at the 2025 SEA Games. Thereby, how to create the best conditions for all Thai athletes when participating in the SEA Games to have the highest chance of winning in all competitions," Mr. Kongsak Yodmanee affirmed.
Meanwhile, according to Siamsport , Madam Pang (billionaire Nualphan Lamsam), President of FAT, has just convinced another young player, a British national of Thai descent, to agree to join the U.17 team of this country from the beginning of 2025. That player is Kai Law, 17 years old, of Nottingham Forest Club.
Kai Law is a versatile player who can play in every position in defence, including right-back and centre-back. He was born in England, but now also has a Thai passport. Kai Law will join the Thailand U17 team along with Manchester United youth team player Silva Mexes (a Welshman of Thai descent) to compete in the AFC U17 Championship in Saudi Arabia from April 3-20.
According to Siamsport , both Kai Law and Silva Mexes can be called up to the Thailand U.22 team to compete in the 2025 SEA Games, if they perform well at the U.17 Asian tournament and are accepted by the Nottingham Forest and MU youth teams.
With the influence of Madam Pang and the goal of winning the gold medal in men's football at the 2025 SEA Games, it is likely that these players will be accepted by clubs in England, as they have been approved to participate in the U.17 Asian tournament, Siamsport confirmed.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thai-lan-quyet-san-vang-sea-games-33-madam-pang-tuc-toc-goi-them-ngoi-sao-tu-anh-185250126124201457.htm
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