Thailand unexpectedly fired the U.23 team coach, Madam Pang spent tens of billions of dong to rescue FAT

Right before the U.23 Southeast Asian Championship was about to start in Indonesia, the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) suddenly fired Japanese coach Takayuki Nishigaya after a series of losses. Meanwhile, Madam Pang took special action to rescue FAT, where she is the president.

Madam Pang's All-Japanese Coach Project Hits a Problem

According to Siamsport , FAT will certainly fire coach Takayuki Nishigaya under pressure from the country's fans after recent losses. The football agency has chosen a new coach to replace him, Mr. Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul, a domestic coach.

Madam Pang on a recent trip to Vietnam

Photo: Contributor

This decision also means that the all-Japanese coach project of Madam Pang (female billionaire Nualphan Lamsam), President of FAT, with 3 Thai teams including the national team, U.23 team and women's team, now has only 2 people. That is coach Masatada Ishii for the men's team and coach Futoshi Ikeda for the women's team.

However, coach Masatada Ishii is also at risk of being fired, after the Thai team lost 1-3 to Turkmenistan away in the second round of Group D of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers on June 10. Thereby, there is a great risk of losing the opportunity to qualify for the final round.

Coach Masatada Ishii still retains his position, but will face a huge challenge in the upcoming schedule if the "War Elephants" continue to perform poorly, including at the King's Cup in September and the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers in October.

Meanwhile, with the Thailand U.23 team, the recent replacement of coach Takayuki Nishigaya with domestic coach Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul is the 8th consecutive coach to be replaced in the past 9 years. And FAT is still struggling to shape this young team for goals in both regional and continental tournaments.

Coach Masatada Ishii in a friendly match between Thailand and Vietnam in September 2024

Photo: Minh Hoang

Thailand U23 will next participate in the Southeast Asian U23 Championship in Indonesia (from July 15 to 29), where they are in Group C with Myanmar and Timor Leste. Then there is the Asian U23 qualifier (playing at home in Group F with Malaysia, Lebanon and Mongolia in early September).

At the end of the year, the Thailand U.23 team will have members in the U.22 age group attending the 33rd SEA Games (December) at home with the goal of winning the gold medal in men's football.

However, the current turmoil has made Thai fans very worried about the U.23 team. And it is unclear whether they have enough strength to win back the gold medal from Indonesia or opponents like Vietnam and Malaysia.

On the same day, FAT said that Madam Pang had directly paid the second installment of 20 million baht (about 15.9 billion VND) to Siam Sport Company. This is the amount FAT owed Siam Sport Company after losing the lawsuit of up to 360 million baht with interest (nearly 300 billion VND) before.

FAT also said that the 20 million baht just paid (in installments after the agreement) is revenue from musical ticket sales, part of a fundraising program to help this football agency under the "Thai people love Thai football" campaign launched by Madam Pang. Therefore, it does not affect FAT's financial activities.

Previously, on April 23, Madam Pang paid the first debt to Siam Sport company with her own money, the amount was 25 million baht (nearly 20 billion VND).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thai-lan-bat-ngo-sa-thai-hlv-doi-u23-madam-pang-lai-chi-hang-chuc-ti-dong-giai-cuu-fat-185250627182442302.htm