Ministry of Education called a meeting with Kun Khmer leaders and preparing the general assembly to end the old mandate

(Phnom Penh): by received the principles from H.E. Dr. Hang Chuon Naron, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, on January 8, the Ministry called a meeting with the leaders of the Kun Khmer Federation to review two important mechanisms: 1- Review the mechanism for organizing and managing the Kun Khmer Development Fund. 2- Review the mechanism for organizing the general assembly to end the 7th mandate (2021-2025) to ensure the membership which recognized by the Ministry and the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC).

This meeting was held at the National Sports Training Center, led by H.E. Vath Chamroeun, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and Secretary General of NOCC and attended by H.E. Pon Sok, Director General of the General Department of Sports, as well as Mr. Khov Chhay, President of the Kun Khmer Federation, and Mr. Heng Sokhon, Secretary General of the Federation.

H.E. Vath Chamroeun told reporters that the meeting was held under the guidance of H.E. Dr. Hang Chuon Naron to report to His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister and the Royal Government, as well as to report to Samdech Techo Hun Sen, President of the Senate, on the process of organizing and managing the Kun Khmer Development Fund, which received some funds from the Charity Friendly Football under the theme “We are together to promote Kun Khmer” organized under the highest initiative of Samdech Techo in late October 2024 in order to help and support the Kun Khmer sector.

On the other hand, the discussion of mechanism to organize the general assembly to end the 7th old mandate of the federation after the request for a courtesy meeting and recommendations from the Minister of Education by the federation leaders, and H.E. Dr. Hang Chuon Naron authorized the Secretary of State in charge and the leader of the General Department to do this work and review the mechanism of the federation as on behalf of a national identity sport federation that must properly respect the regulations and internal regulations of the federation in accordance with the legal regulations of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and NOCC.

Related to the organization of this general assembly, the ministry has accelerated the federation in organizing it, as the membership of the 7th mandate executive committee members of the Kun Khmer Federation, which the ministry has announced to recognize, will end on February 1, 2025 to ensure its membership because when the validity expires, the federation will be affected by the support process from the ministry and NOCC, etc. This is a common mechanism that all national sports federations must implement for transparency in leading and managing with good governance, H.E. Vath Chamroeun added.

His Excellency continued that: “In this work, each national sports federation, not just only one the Kun Khmer Federation, must listen to the instructions of the Ministry of Education, which has the role and authority from the Royal Government to lead, manage, and develop the entire sports sector. This is the determining factor. As for listening or not, the national sports federation can consider by itself whether it is transparent and has good governance. However, if there is no good leadership, it must be punished, revoked the rights, or other measures. This is the rules, customs, and regulations that have been stated. So the federation must all implement them for transparency and equality in our leadership.” 

In addition, H.E. Vath Chamroeun instructed the federation to have the internal agreement in the mechanism to organize the general assembly to end the old mandate, in order to achieve the final authority in leading and managing the federation. This instruction came after His Excellency reviewed the report, mechanism, and procedure for organizing the end-of-mandate general assembly, and found that there were indeed disagreements and valuable opinions within the Federation Executive Committee that had not yet been agreed upon. Therefore, according to the rules, until there is complete agreement in the Executive Committee just can process to vote smoothly.

His Excellency also stressed that: "We have given the federation to work again. There must be reconciled and has the internal agreement, and if there is no internal agreement, then must organize to vote free, fair, and transparency and vote by secret ballot to select a leader who has the trust of all associations/clubs through a fair voting mechanism.

This is an important point that the Ministry of Education has emphasized to the federation, to work transparently in leadership and management and have good the internal agreement, because we have said and said that the federation has the right to do anything, but if the federation does something wrong, it must follow the guidelines and legal standards of the Ministry and the Olympics."