Sports fund manager not involved in any illegal disbursements, says lawyer

The lawyer, Ananchai Chaiyadej, was addressing a press conference at the NSDF office in Bangkok's Bang Kapi district.

Ananchai said the case happened after the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) governor, Kongsak Yodmanee, received a letter on November 30 last year, stating that an unidentified person was affected by Supranee's unlawful actions.

“The SAT received an unidentified person's complaint [for investigation] on December 7 last year," he said.

He said several media outlets subsequently publicised the case, damaging Supranee's reputation. The SAT must take responsibility for this issue, he added.

Ananchai said Supranee was not involved in any unlawful fund disbursement, as she is an employee of the NSDF.

“The NSDF cash is transferred to the SAT's reserve, and the SAT governor is responsible for fund disbursement," he explained.

He acknowledged that Supranee had the duty to make recommendations and facilitate the fund disbursement.

Ananchai suspects the case was being made as Supranee had tackled the SAT's problems related to lack of transparency, such as:

1. Some athletes do not get an allowance.

2. The SAT's move to allow sports associations to borrow NSDF cash from 2019 to 2021, has created a debt of around 400 million baht.

3. The complexity of athletes' cash prizes triggers dissatisfaction among sports associations.

The lawyer said there was an attempt to defame Supranee, as her employment contract would expire on May 31 next year

Responding to the International Federation of Muay Thai Association’s comment that it had received up to 393 million baht, the lawyer said it was not true.

The SAT governor has confirmed that he had not disbursed cash to the federation, he added.

Related stories:

Sports Fund throws counterpunch after accusation of budget delay

Muay Thai takes a step closer to Olympic debut thanks to NSDF promotion efforts

Youths from 21 countries joining United Through Sports exchange in Bangkok