A 12-year-old Thai youth footballer decided to quit football after adults accused him of age cheating. Recently, his coach revealed his ID card confirms his age is within the proper range and that all rules were followed correctly.
On 12 Jan 2026 GMT+7, Facebook user Coach Kung Sitthikorn, a trainer for D.D. Academy Nang Rong, shared that a player on his team was bullied by an opposing coach for being more physically developed than others after playing in the 2026 Children's Day football tournament for under-12s (born 2014) organized by Prakhon Chai Police Station in Buriram.
In the match against 306 Academy, Coach Kung fielded Samatcha Sriwong as a substitute. Samatcha was born on 7 Apr 2014 and was 11 years and 9 months old, fully meeting the age requirements, but stood 175 centimeters tall.
This tournament did not require ID checks from organizers, aiming to instill honesty in children, though teams were allowed to verify among themselves. Before the match, Coach Kung's team showed all players’ ID cards to the opposing side, who chose not to review them.
The match ended with D.D. Academy Nang Rong winning on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Afterward, the coach of 306 Academy posted a photo of the player with the caption, “Is there really a 12-year-old like this? What a blessing to see. How do you raise your child to grow so well? #ChildrensDayFootball”.
That post attracted many comments, including one from Jirawat Makram, a former Thai League footballer with multiple clubs, who said, “It might be possible. Riu senses it.” Later, the original post was deleted, but several had saved the comments.
Many of these comments directly affected the player's feelings, causing him to feel unwilling to continue playing football due to the bullying, despite having only trained for a little over a year.
His aunt posted on her personal Facebook saying:
“Today we reached only the final eight teams, but the effort was not wasted. Winning and losing is normal in sports. We must respect the referees’ decisions, train ourselves in skills and physical fitness, and importantly, control our emotions. We must learn to handle the pressure from competition and the external environment and adapt accordingly.”
“A child born in April 2014, 175 cm tall, weighing 54 kg, achieved this by drinking four boxes of milk daily.”
“He has never stayed still, loving football since he was a child. Thanks to DD Academy Nang Rong for giving Samatcha a chance to pursue his dream. As his aunt, I can only support him like this.”
“Today he feels quite sad and has experienced his first red card. I hope he can forgive himself and not give up on his dream.”
Regarding legal action, Samatcha, his family, and coach have filed a police report. They only want the opposing party to apologize to the player, coach, and family for the damage caused to their reputation and emotional well-being.