Cambodia's new stadium is criticized

 Cambodia's new stadium is criticized

After the match between U23 Cambodia and Brunei on the evening of February 14 had to be paused for nearly an hour because of heavy rain, many people gave bad reviews about Morodok Techo stadium.

"Everything else is great, but Morodok Techo's drainage system is a failure. Let's learn from Gelora Bung Kurno," fan Azrul Rizqi Farhan commented on the Southeast Asian football forum.

User Redy Agustian shared: "This is the leading big stadium in Southeast Asia, but the grass and drainage system of this stadium is terrible." Nipon Boonkumkrong fan wrote: "The construction contractors must not have calculated carefully before the complicated weather conditions in Cambodia".

Morodok Techo brother 1

Heavy rain affected the match of host U23 Cambodia on the evening of February 14. Photo: ASEAN Football.

An unexpected incident happened in the opening match of Group A of Cambodia U23 against U23 Brunei. When the match was nearly 60 minutes, heavy rain fell making the match impossible to continue. After getting opinions from the referee team, the organizers paused the match for about 30 minutes to wait for the rain to stop.

However, it took almost an hour for the players to return to the field. Professional quality for the rest of the game was heavily influenced by large puddles on the pitch. The higher rated team, Cambodia U23, won 6-0.

In addition to the disparaging comments, many comments expressed the sympathy of the online community. Many people believe that the television picture quality is not good enough, which has affected viewers' impressions of the Morodok Techo pitch.

Khemraratharangsey account wrote: "My hometown is in the period of heavy rain, it's a pity with the recent incident". Tho Da Reaksa, another Cambodian fan, also expressed sympathy: "This stadium has just been completed, it is difficult to avoid shortcomings".

Cambodia's Morodok Techo Stadium, invested and built from 2017 to 2021 at a cost of about 168 million USD, is a key work for the 2023 SEA Games. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 seats, has a system modern roof system. This stadium will begin to be used at U23 Southeast Asia 2022, the tournament is meant to practice for the home team Cambodia U23 before the Regional Sports Festival.