Thailand's SEA Games team coach Worrawoot Srimakha has dismissed match-fixing claims after a report on suspicious betting behaviour during the tournament surfaced.
Three football matches played at the recent Games in Malaysia have raised eyebrows after analysts noticed betting patterns suggesting that match-fixers may have struck, reported The Straits Times yesterday.
The matches concerned were Malaysia v Laos, Vietnam v Cambodia and Thailand v Cambodia.
The bulk of the current scrutiny however is centred on teams from Laos and Cambodia.
Italian betting analyst Ivo Romano, a former football integrity consultant at Uefa, said he noticed "telltale" signs in the match between Malaysia and Laos, which the former won 3-1.
"There was an 'avalanche of money' during the game, betting that Malaysia would score a third goal. That final goal was scored in stoppage time," Romano was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Worrawoot insisted his Thai team had nothing to do with any match-fixing activity.
"I just heard this from the press. It was probably just an observation from foreign media. But I can assure you that Thailand had nothing to do with it.
"While I can't speak for other teams mentioned but on Thailand's part, I can honestly say that it is not true," added Worrawoot, whose team beat Cambodia 3-0 at the biennial tournament.
"Our target at the SEA Games was to win and we aimed to win every game there and to score as many goals as possible. Besides I trust my players would not do something like that."
Meanwhile, Football Association of Thailand (FAT) president Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmuang has promised a three-million-baht reward for the national players after their impressive performance against Australia in their last match of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday in Melbourne.
The match ended in a 2-1 win for the hosts and the War Elephants finished last in six-team Group B with only two points from a couple of draws at home.