Thailand Suspends Several Players from Youth National Team

The Thai Football Association has suspended several players and staff members of the youth national team today, following incidents that occurred during the final match of the men's football competition against Indonesia at the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia last week. The association stated in a release that it "punished a coach, a goalkeeper, and two staff members with a one-year suspension," while other players received six-month bans, noting that the incident "damaged the image of Thai football." The Thai association has apologized for the events and promised "strict penalties" for those involved. The first altercation broke out when the referee blew his whistle near the end of regular time, with Indonesian players and coaches celebrating, believing they had won the match 2-1. However, the whistle was actually signaling a free kick from which player Yutsakorn Purav scored the equalizer, leading to violent clashes between the teams.