KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Won Chai (image) begins his discussion on football betting and the possible manipulation of matches with a simple analogy.
“Your neighbour’s house is on fire. It could be arson, it could be carelessness. But if he bought a lot of fire insurance last month, then you know something is happening,” Lee said.
A seasoned international wagering industry expert, the Canada-based Lee is the founder of JIXY, a real-time sports intelligence platform that leverages artificial intelligence to provide comprehensive football match analysis across global competitions.
Lee reached out to Twentytwo13 after observing several eyebrow-raising betting patterns and scorelines, particularly in Malaysia’s A1 Semi-Pro League. Lee has worked closely with Declan Hill, an expert on match-fixing, sports gambling.
Lee was quick to stress that the patterns flagged by his platform cannot be construed as hard evidence of wrongdoing. However, he said they raise yellow and red flags that stakeholders ought to examine closely.
“Generally speaking, the betting window for an English Premier League match is about a week long. For Asian matches, the window is between two and three days,” said Lee.
“But for the A1 league match between Seoul Phoenix FC and Perak FC on Dec 14, the window was less than two hours. Typically, the market does not move more than 0.25. For EPL matches, it is not more than 0.15.
“However, in the Perak-Seoul Phoenix match, the blue line started from minus, meaning Perak was expected to be one goal ahead of Seoul Phoenix, but it ended at 1.75. That is a very unusual movement.”
Perak FC won the match 8-0.
The graph above shows the betting pattern of the Seoul Phoenix-Perak FC match on Dec 14, 2025, while the graph below shows the betting pattern of the Perlis GSA-Seoul Phoenix match on Dec 20, 2025. Images by JIXY
“There was no in-play betting, which usually suggests that bookmakers believe something is happening and do not want to sell the match during play,” he said.
Booted out of South Korea’s K4 league, Seoul Phoenix featured in Malaysia’s A1 league this season and has suffered a series of defeats to local teams. This includes an 8-0 defeat to Perlis GSA FC on Dec 20, a 9-0 loss to Johor Darul Ta’zim II on Jan 11, and a 6-0 defeat to Kelantan Red Warrior FC on Jan 20.
“Take Indonesia, for example. The authorities there say there is no betting and no match fixing, but their people are placing bets online,” Lee said.
“Thailand has no legalised betting, but Thai people are crazy about football betting. Huge amounts of money flow to European companies, and many people lose a lot of money.
“In this internet era, you cannot say football betting does not exist. People are betting online. Who watches Malaysia’s A1 league? Well, people do – and money is being squeezed out of it.”
Lee said he never imagined a Korean club that was expelled from the K4 league would end up playing in a Malaysian competition.
He also noted that companies tasked with monitoring matches typically share their findings only with football associations, not with the public.
“There should be more transparency in the market. Having said that, football associations and league organisers must pay attention to what is happening in their leagues,” he said.
“If you ask them how many matches are flagged with yellow or red alerts, they do not reveal such data. They simply say they are working with specific companies, and that is it.”
While sports betting is illegal in Malaysia, punters continue to wager on foreign and domestic matches via online platforms. This has resulted in a significant outflow of ringgit, a trend Lee expects to intensify during the upcoming Fifa World Cup, which kicks off on June 11.
Lee suggested the creation of an independent monitoring body to provide data on suspicious matches.
“I think it should be more of an academic initiative so that it is impartial and not for profit. Academics do not need to hide the truth,” he said.
He added that such data could help authorities assess the possibility of legalising betting as a way to curb the outflow of ringgit.
“The government would then be able to monitor the activity, and it becomes a win-win for all.”
