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.