Rare incident affects men's football at SEA Games 33

(Dan Tri) - The sudden addition of U22 Timor Leste to the list of participants in the men's football event of the 33rd SEA Games forced the organizing committee to adjust the draw at the last minute.

As of yesterday (October 18), the 33rd SEA Games organizing committee announced that only 9 teams would participate in the men's football competition, except Timor Leste and Brunei who did not participate. After that, Timor Leste was angry because their names were not on the list of teams participating in the draw.

U22 Timor Leste (red shirt) was only added to compete in men's football at the 33rd SEA Games at the last minute because they forgot to register (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).

Therefore, Timor Leste complained and asked the organizing committee to take responsibility for this mistake. However, the host country affirmed that they acted according to the law.

Finally, Timor Leste Olympic Committee Vice President Lawrence admitted that he had forgotten to register. He apologized and hoped that the organizing committee would consider adding Timor Leste because the registration portal had closed.

Colonel Ekachaiphak Siriwat, Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand and CEO of the SEA Games Federation, did not agree to Timor Leste's addition.

He said: “I explained to the Timor Leste official from the afternoon of October 18. It was not until 8pm that Mr. Lawrence admitted his mistake in forgetting to register for U22 Timor Leste. He apologized and asked me if I could open the registration portal. I reiterated that this was not possible because the system was closed.”

It was not until this morning that Timor Leste finally convinced the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) to allow their team to participate in the tournament before the draw. As a result, the number of teams has increased from 9 to 10.

Vietnam U22s were not affected much by this. However, there was some disruption when a 4-team group appeared. Singapore U22s were pushed from seed group 3 to number 4.

SEA Games 33 men's football draw results (Photo: FA Thailand).

Finally, the group of 4 teams includes Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore. These teams are at a disadvantage because they have to play one more match than the teams in the other two groups. Timor Leste is in group A with Thailand and Cambodia, while U22 Vietnam is in group B with Malaysia and Laos.

In men's football at the 33rd SEA Games, the top three teams and the second-placed team with the best results will advance to the semi-finals.

The men's football tournament is scheduled to take place from December 3 to December 18. The group stage will be held in three locations: Bangkok, Songkhla and Chiang Mai. From the semi-finals onwards, matches will be held at Rajamangala Stadium (Bangkok, Thailand). The men's football tournament requires teams to use an U22 squad (players born from January 1, 2003 onwards) and there will be no slots for overage players.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/su-co-hy-huu-gay-anh-huong-toi-mon-bong-da-nam-sea-games-33-20251019171854955.htm