Dutch football league champions PSV Eindhoven, who beat Thai Premier League champions SCG Muang Thong United 2-0 in a friendly on Tuesday night, paid a visit to Klong Prem Central prison in Bangkok this week.
The PSV players were given the grand tour of the prison before playing teams of well-behaved inmates in several 10-minute matches.
“At first the PSV players were worried and asked me details about the prison and the prisoners,” Corrections Department director Suchart Wonganantachai told the Bangkok Post. “Once everyone relaxed they were fine. They said it was a once in a lifetime experience to play with the inmates.”
Prison authorities often use football as a rehabilitative measure, and Klong Prem, due to its high number of foreign prisoners, has in the past hosted a world cup for inmates with players from Nigeria, Japan, the US, Italy, France, England, Germany, as well as Thailand.
