Vietnam Football Scandal
Gambling scandals hit Vietnam's football association once again.
Jail for two former footballers and six current players in Vietnam's national team, lifts the lid on another gambling scandal in the Vietnamese Republic.
Living in a football-crazy world as we do, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone to hear that gambling, and game fixing, is rife in “the beautiful game”. Football, long ago lost that title.
England, the home of football, had its own mini-scandal some years back. That scandal brought resignations from some famous names, but apart from the ongoing tale of bungs in brown envelopes (hardly regarded as a crime these days when even politicians are accused of it) and the recent scandal in Italian football, there has been little to give cause for alarm in European football.
That‘s not the case in East Asian football where scandals involving bribery and corruption resulted in the Vietnam’s national team vice-captain, Le Quoc Vuong, being jailed for six years for organizing a fix and involving his fellow players. Truong Tan Hai, a former Saigon Port club player, was handed a three year sentence for acting as middleman between the team and a local syndicate, and six other players were given suspended sentences of up to two and a half years.
All this though, may be dwarfed by the current scandal in which two former footballers have been given jail sentences for fixing an international match, and six other players, including a popular striker, were given suspended prison sentences. All eight were found guilty of taking bribes to ensure they beat Burma (Myanmar) by no more than 1-0 at the South East Asian Games in December 2005 in the Philippines. More than thirty players and referees are currently being investigated as part of Vietnam’s campaign to clean up the game.
The hundreds of reporters and fans who descended on the court for the two-day trial have shone a light into the murky world of organised betting rings in Vietnam where gambling is widespread despite being banned. Millions of dollars often change hands. Vietnam’s Football Association hopes this will serve as a warning to others.
Meanwhile, Asia still waits expectantly the arrival of UK teams like Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Everton and the other Premier Club teams who play exhibition matches here outside the UK off-season.
There will be no match-fixing but gambling will continue to flourish. It is hard to stop one of mankind’s oldest pastimes.
