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Indonesia’s 18-year wait for a Southeast Asian Games football gold medal looks set to continue as its Under-23 team shockingly lost 2-0 to host Laos on Monday.

Lamnao Singto scored Laos’ goals in the 66th and 76th minute during the Group B match at Chao Anouvong Stadium in Vientiane.

Laos has four points and leads the group on goal difference ahead of Singapore, which beat Burma 2-1 on Monday.

Coach Alberto Bica’s team must beat Burma by a healthy margin in the last group match on Thursday. Even if Indonesia wins, it needs a winner between Laos and Singapore in the other match.

Malaysian football officials on Monday defended their team after a scuffle which saw players chase the referee, who fled the pitch under police escort.

The Malaysian Under-23 players let loose after suffering a 3-1 loss to Vietnam in Vientiane on Sunday, a huge setback in efforts to qualify for the semifinals.

Malaysian and Vietnamese newspapers said players threw bottles and chased South Korean referee Kim Jong-Hyeok, who had to run to the middle of the ground to escape his pursuers.

Security forces later moved in to protect the referee and escort him off the pitch.

Malaysian officials admitted the team behaved badly but said they had been provoked.

“We have registered our strong protest and concern at the referee, who seemed to be unfair and biased against the Malaysian team,” said Khairy Jamaluddin, the deputy chair of the Football Association of Malaysia.

“This was the direct cause of the behavior of some of our players. Of course bad behavior can never be excused, but we were very unhappy with the quality of the refereeing.”

Khairy described the incident as an “isolated” case but said that players could still be punished.

Malaysian coach K. Rajagobal also blamed the outburst on decisions by Kim, including a red card for Mohamad Zaquan Adha Abdul Razak.

“The Malaysian team was always on the offensive, but whenever our player was in front of the goal ... the referee would always make a call not in our favor, putting our players under stress,” he said.

“My players are too young and emotional, they failed to control their anger and disappointment at the referee,” Rajagobal said according to state news agency Bernama, adding that he had apologized to the match officials.

The senior Malaysian national side is ranked a lowly 152nd by FIFA, having fallen steadily since the 1970s and 1980s. The country’s footballing disintegration has been blamed on poor management, cronyism, corruption, a lack of government support and the absence of any grassroots nurturing of talent.

JG, AFP