Malaysia U-22 coach Ong Kim Swee has admitted the existence of match-fixing behaviors in South-east Asia football, but denied the involvement of Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand teams in last month’s SEA Games.
During the interview with Thanh Nien Newspaper, Ong stated that the media had the right to question, especially when the enormous amount of money poured down during the matches, in which the results were predicted exactly before the games started.
However, the 45-year-old believed his men, as well as Vietnam and Thailand, had not foolishly committed in the match-fixing because those teams were determined to win the gold medal.
“I can say Malaysia U-22 never compromise with any team at SEA Games. Our 3-1 win over Laos is very clear, our players were making great efforts to score the goal,” Ong said.