Phijika Boonkwang, former president of the Vientiane Football United club, is shown in an undated photo. (Source: RFA)
Phijika Boonkwang, president of the Vientiane Football United club, angered government authorities after she criticised the condition of a local road on a Facebook Live.
She was walking on Aug. 25 along a muddy and uneven road leading to the headquarters of the Lao National Football Federation to see a game when she made her comments, which angered government authorities.
“This is the road to the Federation, not the Sanamxay District,” the 30-year-old Boonkwang said, referring to a district damaged by widespread flooding after heavy rains breached a hydropower project’s containment dam.
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“This is the capital, Vientiane, and this is the Lao National Football Federation. It’s flooded. This is very bad,” she said.
RFA reported, that three days later on August 28 the Federation issued a notice banning Boonkwang, the country’s first female soccer club president, from all soccer activities for 90 days “for damaging the reputation of the Federation and the country.”
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On the same day, she posted a statement on her Facebook page. Boonkwang apologized for making the video clip and expressed regret for her choice of words.
“I said those things with good intentions. I want to improve the game of soccer in the country, and I want to improve the condition of the road leading to the Federation.” She said, “I’m sorry that I used the wrong words.”
However, a day later (29/8), Boonkwang appeared on Facebook again, this time in tears, to announce her resignation from her team.
“It’s hard for me not to be president of the team anymore,” she said, adding, “I quit because the Federation said I had damaged the reputation of the country,” and added, “The Federation and the country are the same,” she said.
Speaking on Aug. 29 to RFA’s Lao Service, an unidentified Lao sports official defended the Federation’s action against Boonkwang, saying she was “100 percent in the wrong.”
“She was on a live video clip complaining about the condition of the road leading to the Federation.”
“That was inappropriate and in violation of Federation rules,” he said.
Source: RFA