SEAG match-fixing claims probed

SEAG match-fixing claims probed

Associated Press, Hanoi

Four members of Vietnam's national soccer team will be questioned by police over allegations of match-fixing during this month's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines, local media reported on Tuesday.

Chief investigator Pham Xuan Quac of the Ministry of Public Security issued a summons for the four players -- striker Pham Van Quyen and defenders Nguyen Hai Lam, Le Van Truong and Le Bat Hieu, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.

The four will be required to show up for questioning on Wednesday, confirmed a ministry official who declined to give his name. No further details were given. The players are accused of receiving tens of thousands of dollars in payments from Vietnamese gamblers to fix matches against Myanmar and Malaysia, the newspaper said.

Vietnam defeated Myanmar 1-0, and advanced to the semifinal round to beat Malaysia 2-1. However, it lost 3-0 in the championship match to regional powerhouse Thailand.

All the players have denied involvement, the newspaper said. A Vietnamese sports writer was also summoned for questioning for being an alleged broker in the deal.

Nguyen Trong Hy, chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation, was quoted in Tuesday's Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper as saying he had hoped that severe punishments for bribery and match-fixing in several recent soccer scandals this year would have proved a deterrent.

"Everyone should have seen the lessons. I thought our footballers should be afraid but I might be wrong," he said.