KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) today slammed Sea Games hosts Cambodia for making a mockery of the sport.
MCA questioned the appearance of Indian and Pakistani players in the Cambodian team and the tournament format, which did not consider the world rankings of teams.
Malaysia and Thailand, the two highest ranked men's and women's cricket teams, were drawn in the same groups of the 50 overs, T20 and T10 events. There were no crossover semi-finals, and champions of each group fought for the gold.
"Considering the rankings of both Thailand and Malaysia, this is highly questionable," read the statement today.
"It is also puzzling that match fixtures were released daily. This was the case until Day 5 of the competition. It was unfair as we could not plan and test strategies before matches.
"On top of that, the tournament technical director also harassed our teams.
"This is not the spirit in which the Sea Games should be played, nor the spirit of sportsmanship accorded to international cricketers."
MCA also questioned Cambodia's 13 foreign-born players in their team. Cambodia claimed they were naturalised citizens.
"Albeit citing only a few passports, we noted that the passports were issued on April 23 this year, the first match was played six days later, whereas the deadline for the shortlist was March 3.
"This begs the question, can amendments be made for as many as 13 players? If so, what is the purpose of a shortlist?
"There should be a minimum cooling off period of one year for individuals to represent the country. This would create a more acceptable and level playing field."
MCA hopes that the Sea Games Federation and the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) will conduct a full review of the tournament and audit the eligibility of all players representing all national teams in this edition of the Sea Games.