Poor scheduling of the SEA Games men’s Under-23 football competition fixtures has thrown up the possibility of teams “fixing” the results of their last group matches.
As the last round of matches in Groups A and B won’t be played simultaneously, teams could easily “fix” the outcomes to make sure they meet their preferred choices in the semi-finals.
And Malayia are ready to lodge a protest with the organisers over the unfair scheduling of the final round fixtures on Nov 17.
Coach Ong Kim Swee expressed surprise that no one had raised the matter.
“It’s normal in any competition for the last round of matches to kick-off at the same time. I will bring this matter up at the team managers’ meeting on Sunday,” Kim Swee said from Jakarta yesterday.
A total of 11 teams will compete in the men’s Under-23 competition.
Group A comprises hosts Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore while Group B has Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Philip-pines, Brunei and Timor Leste.
Group B matches began on Thursday while Malaysia will open their campaign in Group A against Singapore on Monday.
The last round of matches in Groups A and B are scheduled for Nov 17.
In the last round of matches in Group A, Thailand are slated to face Singapore at 5pm, followed by Indonesia’s clash against Malaysia at 8pm at the Gelora Bung Karno Senayan Stadium.
On the same day, the last Group B fixture will see Vietnam taking on Laos at 5pm at the Lebak Bulus Stadium,.
Previous Games saw the last round matches played simultaneously to avoid any possibility of match–fixing by the teams.
This has triggered fears of a repeat of the match-fixing controversy that marred the Tiger Cup (Asean Football Federation) championship 13 years ago.
Then, Thailand and Indonesia – both already assured of their semi-final tickets – were scheduled to meet in their last group match.
But neither wanted to win so as to avoid having to face hosts Vietnam. Thailand and Indonesia preferred to take on the supposedly weaker Singapore.
So, with the score standing at 2-2, Indonesian defender Mursyid Effendi deliberately kicked the ball into his own net, despite the Thais’ attempt to stop him.
FIFA fined both teams US$40,000 for “violating the spirit of the game” and Mursyid was banned from domestic football for a year and from international football for life.
Ironically, Thailand went on to lose to Vietnam and Indonesia crashed out to Singapore in the semi-finals, thus pitting them together again in the third-place playoff.
Indonesia eventually won on penalty shootout. In the final, unfancied Singapore created a huge shock by defeating Vietnam.
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