Voting for the executive committee members of the new Cambodian Amateur Boxing Federation (CABF) mandate saw Tem Moeun take over as president.

TEM Moeun, a lieutenant colonel in the Cambodian Royal Armed Forces, was elected as the new president of the Cambodian Amateur Boxing Federation (CABF) for the next four-year mandate (2010-2013) during a congress Thursday morning at the federation headquarters in Olympic Stadium.

The election, presided over by Lak Sam Ath, general director of sport at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, featured 25 voters made up of former executive committee members and provincial representatives. Seventeen of these voters were candidates for the new executive committee, of which 13 were elected.

Former president Oum Yourann, who had held the position since 2005, received only five votes out of a total of 23, with two votes considered null and void. Three committee candidates from the previous administration, Um Ponlok, chief of finances, Voy Eng, a member from Banteay Meanchey province, and Ngaet Vireak, a member from Siem Reap province, were also not elected for the new mandate.

The 13 new CABF executives voted unanimously for Tem Moeun to replace Oum Yourann, while Va Sinphirum was elected as first deputy and Chhoeung Yaoyen was appointed second deputy. Mil Kado and Kim Lavy retained their places in the committee as general secretary and deputy general secretary respectively, while Poeng Sam Ang, the only female executive, was chosen as chief of finances.

Oum Yourann had no comment after the election, but seemed disappointed with the radical reshuffle. Tem Moeun, meanwhile, promised to lead the CABF forward. “I’ll try to do my best to develop boxing in the kingdom,” he said. “I’ll strengthen the cooperation with the government and the national Olympic committee for the good future of boxing during my chairmanship.”

Lak Sam Ath took the opportunity to admire the past work of Oum Yourann. “I’m so sad that he is not elected in the new CABF executive,” he said. “But I hope that the new leader keeps in contact with [Oum Yourann] to get advice on boxing, because he has much experience. [They] have to work together for the best future of Cambodian boxing.” The sports official also suggested that the new CABF should cooperate with the TV channels to promote [English] boxing, not only Pradal Serey or Kun Khmer kickboxing.

“I’m so happy that boxing could get five medals from the SEA Games, but I hope that it will collect more from the next event if we start promoting it,” he said. “I want to see at least 30 percent of boxing scheduled on televisions.” Lak Sam Ath noted that without regular competition, the boxers cannot stay match-fit and will lose confidence.

Many boxers, coaches and members of the CABF expect that the federation will develop under the leadership of Tem Moeun, with criticisms of Oum Yourann’s stint including corruption allegations. However, others said that the CABF wouldn’t change that much because they had disagreements with Tem Moeun when he served preeviously as deputy president.