Sports Minister Explains Youth Olympics Withdrawal Due to Financial Constraints – Urges Sports Fund to Distribute Budget Equitably
Thailand withdrew its bid to host the 2030 Youth Olympic Games due to budget constraints and economic uncertainties, with the government unable to guarantee the estimated 5.4 billion baht needed for the event.
Sports Minister Surasak Panjareunvarkul has explained the necessity of Thailand's withdrawal from bidding to host the 2030 Youth Olympic Games due to budgetary concerns and urged the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) to distribute funds equitably among all sports associations.
The Thai government will not submit the certification letter to host the 2030 Youth Olympic Games due to excessively high costs.
Regarding this matter, Sports and Tourism Minister Surasak Panjareunvarkul stated that the government's decision to withdraw stems from considerable expenses coupled with Thailand's economic conditions and global uncertainties that make all cost projections unreliable. "As we all know, the government is drafting a borrowing decree, which means Thailand currently has no surplus funds," he explained. "Given the domestic economic situation and global uncertainties, everything costs more. The budgeted 5.4 billion baht for the Youth Olympics may not be sufficient, let alone additional expenses for athlete training facilities and infrastructure construction—we don't know how many more billions would be needed."
"Previously, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) supported host nations' expenses, but this time they won't," he continued. "As the sports minister, no one dislikes hosting major events because of the prestige it brings, but the money for such undertakings is public funds, not my personal money. We must calculate whether hosting will justify the investment. Since we're currently seeking to borrow funds—meaning we're broke—the government decided we need to be more cautious and better prepared."
Simultaneously, the sports minister instructed the NSDF to manage its funds carefully, ensuring equitable and widespread distribution to various sports associations. He also praised the direct cash transfer program to athletes as an excellent initiative. "Seeing athletes smile when funds are deposited into their accounts brings me joy as well," he said. "This is excellent news and great encouragement for the Thai national sports team. I want to ask the National Sports Development Fund to spread the budget fairly across all associations and ensure equity, so no sports association has to complain about delayed or unavailable funding withdrawals."
