Cambodian punters lose shirts, cows, homes

PHNOM PENH, June 15 (Reuters) Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen today urged his impoverished people not to sell their possessions to place bets on the soccer World Cup, saying it was probably a bad idea.

''Go ahead and watch it, but do not sell your cows, motorcycles, cars, homes and land to bet on the games,'' Hun Sen, a one-eyed former Khmer Rouge soldier, told farmers at a provincial hospital opening.

''Just bet verbally, for fun. Don't sell your cows to bet on games of football,'' he told the several hundred villagers and foreign diplomats at the ceremony.

World Cup fever has gripped the war-scarred southeast Asian nation, with Cambodians from every walk of life staying up into the small hours of the night to catch their favourite teams in action.

Hun Sen himself confessed to backing Japan -- his government's largest donor.

Last week, Phnom Penh patriarch Non Nget told over 40,000 Buddhist monks to remain passive while watching matches or risk being defrocked.

''If they make noise or cheer as they watch, they will lose their monkhoods,'' he said.

REUTERS PM PM1403