Three football matches played at the recent 29th SEA Games have been drawn into suspicion after analysts noticed the signs of match-fixing in betting patterns.
According to reports from The Straits Times, analysts from three bet monitoring companies have raised concern about the suspicious betting behavior involving three matches, including Malaysia versus Laos, Vietnam versus Cambodia, and Thailand versus Cambodia.
However, those analysts suggested the irregular patterns were not conclusive proof of match-fixing but were enough to raise alarms among betting monitors.
Currently, the Olympic Council of Malaysia – the organizer of the SEA Games 2017, said it “has not received any reports on the matter” and that it was unable to comment.
On the other hand, The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said it “employs a number of measures aimed at preventing, detecting and effectively responding to any instances of match-fixing during competitions subject to its jurisdictions”.
Regarding the surrounding allegation, Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has denied the involvement of Vietnam U-22 in match-fixing behaviours during SEA Games.
“VFF has been highly alert and we even had police officials supervised the team during 29th SEA Games. Based on the investigation, Vietnam U22 have had no signs of involving in match fixing activities,” VFF General Secretary Le Hoai Anh told VnExpress.