by Kyaw Kha
Monday, 14 December 2009 22:29
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – After the elimination of the Burmese team from the U 23 SEA tournament, the match between Singapore and Laos, was “fixed” Burmese coach Drago Macmax alleged.
In the Southeast Asian Game (SEA) teams Singapore and Laos have spoilt soccer, a popular sports internet website in Burma quoted the Burmese team head coach Croatian Drago Macmax as saying.
In the match between Singapore versus the host team Laos on 10 December in Group B, there was a goalless draw and they advanced to the next stage of the semifinal with five points each and stood first and second in this group.
The Burmese team drew with Laos, lost to Singapore team 2:1; won against Indonesia 3:1 and got a total of 4 points in this group and stood third. Then the Burmese team was eliminated from the tournament.
"This is shameful. Their 'match fixing' has been recorded on TV. They have spoilt soccer. Everybody knows we played our best in this tournament under every circumstance", the sports website (www.soccermyanmar.com) quoted Macmax, who has been the Burmese team’s head coach for over a month as saying.
The Phnom Penh Post from Cambodia also ridiculed this match in their report with the headline 'Shameful point sharing'.
'Laos and Singapore teams played a shameful match at the National Stadium in capital Vientiane in the presence of over 20,000 soccer fans without scoring any goals with the common intention of advancing to the semifinal stage. In such an international match, this is the worst setback', the paper reported on December 11.
Rangoon based veteran sports columnist Ko Ko Gyi also said that there could have been 'match fixing'.
"It's not like a football match. About 20 minutes before the final whistle, four defenders and the goalkeeper passed the ball among themselves. Both sides did the same. It was killing time. A national team should not play in such a manner. It seemed they fixed the result before the match for a goalless draw", Ko Ko Gyi told Mizzima.
The two matches, Singapore versus Vietnam and Laos versus Malaysia, will be played today.
There are 25 sports events in the 25th SEA Games and a total of 379 gold medals will be awarded. Burmese women’s soccer team won the bronze medal.
All Southeast Asian countries except Brunei and Philippines, namely Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, East Timor and Singapore participated.
The SEA Game was previously called 'SEAP Game' (Southeast Asian Peninsular Game) biennially starting in 1959. Then the game was renamed as SEA Game since 1977, in the 9th game.
Monday, December 14, 2009
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