Vietnam soccer players arrested in SEAG scandal
Vietnam soccer players arrested in SEAG scandal
Associated Press, Hanoi
Police arrested two members of Vietnam's national soccer team for match-fixing during the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games earlier this month, state media reported on Wednesday
Vietnam striker Pham Van Quyen and midfielder Le Quoc Vuong were taken into police custody on Tuesday and formally charged with gambling and organizing gambling, Thanh Nien newspaper reported. They were being held in a detention center outside Hanoi.
At least five members of the Vietnam team are under suspicion of fixing games against Myanmar and Malaysia during the Games, with soccer held in Bacolod City, the Philippines, in return for tens of thousands of U.S. dollars.
Vietnam defeated Myanmar 1-0, and advanced to the semifinal round to beat Malaysia 2-1. However, it lost 0-3 in the championship match to regional powerhouse Thailand.
The players' arrest is the latest embarrassment for the country's scandal-plagued soccer community, which has seen a string of high-profile arrests in connection with bribery and gambling.
Nearly two dozen referees, coaches and sports officials are facing criminal charges for match-fixing incidents in the past year.
In a stunning indictment on corruption in soccer, sports miniter Nguyen Danh Thai was quoted in Thanh Nien as saying that "I was not surprised. I was not shocked by the news that some players fixed matches".
Striker Quyen, one of the most popular team members, initially denied involvement but later admitted he had received money after police confronted him with phone recordings of his conversations with his bookie, a former national team player, and testimony that he had received an envelope of money while in a taxi.
Quyen told police he and some teammates had approached other players to join in.
Vietnam captain Phan Van Tai Em told police he had been asked to fix the game but refused and reported it to the leader of the Vietnamese delegation.
Thanh Nien quoted unidentified sources saying that the players had received a total of 1.3 billion dong (US$82,000) for throwing the games.
SEA Games organizers in the Philippines said they were disappointed by the revelations but pleased that Vietnam had brought the matter under investigation.
"I'm saddened by the fact that there are these kind of athletes that competed in the SEA Games, but at the same time I'm glad the Vietnamese officials were able to discover and bring this matter to the attention of the police," Philippine Olympic Committee chairman Robert Aventajado told The Associated Press in Manila.