Life bans for Vietnamese match-fixers, Latest Football News - The New Paper
Football

Life bans for Vietnamese match-fixers

Vietnam's football federation has banned nine players for life for fixing an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup match, part of efforts to win back the dwindling confidence of fans and rebuild a reputation tarnished by bribery scandals.

The nine former Vissai Ninh Binh players received jail terms of up to 30 months in August for rigging an away match against Malaysian Super League team Kelantan this year.

The scandal was one of many in recent years in a country notorious for illicit gambling and with one of the world's worst track records for match-fixing.

It led to Vissai Ninh Binh's withdrawal from the Vietnamese top flight amid fears league games could also have been fixed.

Rare ban

Such measures are rare in Vietnam, which routinely hands down harsh penalties to criminals but have given relatively lenient punishments for throwing games.

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) announced the bans on Thursday.

It has been working closely with police to investigate suspicious activities and has previously suggested legalising small-stakes betting to curb the problem.

The VFF said in August that it was "resolutely fighting with negatives in football to regain the confidence of the country's fans".

Dinh Khai, a prominent local pundit, described the bans as a good first step, as it showed the sport's bosses were sending a clear message to players to shun bribes.

"They want to awaken the players to purify Vietnamese football," said Khai.

"Vietnamese football is now very poor within the region...

"The results will always be wrong as long as negativity and match-fixing still exists."

Illegal gambling rife

Gambling is illegal, but rife in Vietnam, with huge sums changing hands and players are easy targets for underground betting syndicates.

Vietnamese police said they tracked tens of millions of dollars in online betting daily during this year's World Cup.

Last month, the AFC extended the VFF's suspension of six players from 
V-League club Dong Nai pending a police probe into alleged match-fixing during a fixture in July and other games.

Author and sports columnist Nguyen Luu said that he supported bans in general but punishments should be proportional to a player's level of involvement.

"There are some who led, others were followers, some were dragged along," he said.

"It's a very good decision as this stain is hurting and sabotaging football...

"But I don't believe all nine players deserved that level of punishment."

- Reuters.

"It's a very good decision as this stain is hurting and sabotaging football... But I don't believe all nine players deserved that level of punishment."

- Author and sports columnist Nguyen Luu on the life ban for Vietnamese match-fixers

RELATED STORIES:
Kelong? Vietnam authorities investigate Malaysia defeat
Ten found guilty of match-fixing in Vietnam​

FootballVietnamafc cupmatch-fixing