Prey Veng FC Checked for League Eligibility

According to a report published by the Cambodian Premier League (CPL) Facebook page CEO Satoshi Saito and Club Licensing Manager Chea Sreylis have met with Prey Veng officials to verify documents related to the clubs licensing, as well as check the infrastructure of the club.

To read about the Cambodian Premier League click here

Who are Prey Veng FC?

Formed in 2021 in the rural province of Prey Veng the club played their first season in the top-tier of Cambodian football, placing 12th out of 13, before becoming founder members of CPL 2.

In 2022 they finished a respectable 5th four points off of a playoff spot and were one of the strongest clubs within the league.

What are the club being investigated?

No one quite knows and it could well be a simple routine checking of documents, with criteria for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) licensing being mentioned, as well as “the general rules and conditions for AFC membership”.

One suspected issue that the club may face is their rumored close relationship with big spending Hun Sen Cup holders Viaskha FC. Since the formation of Prey Veng many pundits and managers alike have accused the club of merely being a feeder, or reserve team of Visakha, although officially at least this is not the case.

Speaking anonymously one figure with strong ties with Visakha told us “The clubs are officially separate, but it is a relatively open secret that we are connected”.

Officially Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) rules forbid the ownership of two clubs in the same country by one entity, although in real terms this prohibition is often skirted around.

There is currently controversy within the English Premier League as Qatar are trying to buy Manchester United while also owning Paris St Germain. Although the clubs do play in different countries both are regular participants in the UEFA Champions League.

Is this the start of the CPL 2 cull?

As reported yesterday by Cambodia Sports Review and BPVE there are currently runmours that the Cambodian Premier League is looking to cut from 19 clubs down to 14.

To read that story click here

Were this to be the case then a number of high profile clubs, such as Prey Veng would have to be excluded from the top tier of Cambodian football.