SMART AND PHNOM PENH CROWN FC ANNOUNCE OFFICIAL PARTNERSHIP TO PROMOTE FOOTBALL AS NATIONAL SPORT

“Phnom Penh Crown is very excited to welcome Smart Axiata as our main partner for the next three years. Not only will Smart become our main jersey sponsor, we are looking forward to working closely with them to develop football and sports-related community and social responsibility programs.” said Rithy Samnang, the President of Phnom Penh Crown FC.

Football is the most popular sport in the world. In Cambodia, we have seen the profile of the sport rise dramatically with improvements on the field and amongst the country’s football fans, which has reached fever pitch in support of the national team. After recent regional and global football tournaments such as SEA Games 2015 in Singapore and World Cup 2018 qualification, for the first time in the country’s history, football in Cambodia is really taking off, attracting thousands of fans to watch matches in support of their club teams and the national team. To continue the development of football in Cambodia, consistent involvement by the government, institutions, businesses, football clubs and supporters is required.

“Smart and Phnom Penh Crown Football Club share many common values. Phnom Penh Crown is an outstanding club with an exceptional performance record. Besides developing their professional players, Phnom Penh Crown has their own youth academy program to cultivate young talented players. We are very happy to support this long-term vision from the club and we see it as a first step to create world-class footballers in Cambodia. We hope that this partnership can be our messenger to encourage more people to play football as a sporting leisure pursuit as well as a platform to chase their dreams to be sports professionals. This partnership is another of Smart’s major initiatives towards promoting community health while purposefully creating world-class football players”, said Thomas Hundt, CEO of Smart Axiata.

This partnership with Phnom Penh Crown FC complements perfectly the partnership that Smart maintains with Happy Football Australia Cambodia for 6 years already. HFAC and Smart have been taking homeless kids off the street and onto the football field, sending a team to the Homeless Football World Cup every year and therewith creating hope amongst those highly underprivileged kids. This proves that football is beyond just a game of two teams playing against each other to score goals. Football is a sport that brings healthy lifestyle, careers, hopes and dreams.

Rithy Samnang added, “Smart’s ongoing commitment to support the communities they serve through their sporting, educational and public health projects, as part of their core company values, makes them the perfect partner for Phnom Penh Crown FC. Our club strives to make a real difference by developing our own youth academy, community and school programs and our involvement as agents for positive change in societal activities.”

Following up our commitment to develop sport and to make sport attractive in Cambodia, Smart is pleased to introduce “Smart Fantasy Football League”. Smart Fantasy Football League will allow Smart subscribers in an highly entertaining way to use their skill to manage a virtual football team. The monthly winners will get a free iPhone 6 while the winner of the season will carry away unbelievable 10 000 USD in cash as grand prize! The runner up will receive 2 500 USD, the 3rd placed 1 000 USD in cash. Visit https://fantasy.smart.com.kh/ or call 888 for more information.