The football tournament at the 2005 SEA Games was held from 20 November to 4 December. The men's tournament is played at under-23 level, while the women's tournament has no age limit.
Cambodia were represented by champions Khemera, who had been declared Cambodia's national team by their owner and president of the Cambodian National Olympic Committee, Prince Norodom Ranariddh.
Two players from the Vietnamese team, striker Pham Van Quyen and midfielder Le Quoc Vuong, were arrested in Hanoi for "indulging in betting on games and organising betting" (match-fixing). The scandal apparently took place in a match with Vietnam placed against Myanmar, with Vietnam winning 1–0. However, the results are disputed after allegations rose on state television state that some Vietnamese players appeared to slow down their play. It's also been alleged that Van Quyen received 23 million đồng from two women in Ho Chi Minh City on the way to Hanoi from Manila for the match-fix. Meanwhile, the Philippine government praised Vietnamese officials for the crackdown on football corruption and the arrest of the two players. Philippine Olympic Committee chairman Robert Aventajado said that the arrests were made to protect the sport and that Vietnam is working to stem further damage that the scandal has caused to it. Two more players, midfielder Huynh Quoc Anh and defender Le Bat Hieu, were arrested on the same charges over the same scandal. It is believed that these players also received twenty million đồng from local bookmakers to make sure that Vietnam won't win by more than one goal. The same accusation is also believed to be applied to the 23 million đồng payout to Van Quyen.[1][2][3][4][5]
1 Formerly known as Southeast Asian Peninsular Games from 1959 until 1975. 2 Cancelled due to hosting issues and due to the Vietnam War. 3 Postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thailand (12th title)
Vietnam
Malaysia
Indonesia
Philippines
Cambodia
36'
Singapore
Laos
Myanmar
