Several Vietnamese players were found to have intentionally underperformed in exchange for payments from a gambling syndicate, leading to criminal charges and suspensions. This scandal also had a negative effect on Vietnamese football, especially concerning football betting and match-fixing.[4]
After having lost to the Thailand U-23 team in the 2003 SEA Games finals round, The Vietnam U-23 team participated in the 2005 SEA Games as the defending runner-up.[5] To prepare for the SEA Games, the team competed in the LG Cup and the Agribank Cup friendly tournaments and successfully won both.[6][7][8]
On the other side, the Myanmar U-23 team reached the semi-finals and finished fourth in the 2003 SEA Games.[9] The Myanmar team was regarded as a potential dark horse in the 2005 SEA Games.[10][11]
Almost everyone supported Lê Quốc Vượng's plan, except for Phan Văn Tài Em, who refused to participate and reported their entire plan to assistant coach Lê Thụy Hải and interpreter Trần Hùng Cường.[16][17] Lê Tấn Tài also stated, "I can help the team win, but I don't want to get involved in the betting."[15]
Lê Quốc Vượng sent word back to Trương Tấn Hải that the players have agreed to the deal, and told him to set up the betting and sort out the odds for the players involved. He mentioned that seven players had agreed to participate and placed a bet of 250million VND.[16]
Match results
Vietnam started the match strong. However, halfway through the first half, Myanmar changed their strategy, putting more pressure on Vietnam. However, the first half ended with no goals from either team.[18][19]
In the second half, Vietnam improved their performance, holding off Myanmar's offense.[20] In the 65th minute, Nguyễn Văn Biển was substituted in place of Huỳnh Quốc Anh and quickly made an impact. Just a minute later, he delivered a cross into the penalty area, allowing Phan Văn Tài Em to score with a header, giving Vietnam the lead in the 66th minute. As previously agreed, the Vietnamese players started to hold onto the ball in their half to waste time. The game ended with Vietnam winning 1–0.[18][20]
The match result guaranteed that the players received their money as promised, and Lê Quốc Vượng won a bet worth 250 million VND.[21][22] On 26 November 2005, Lê Quốc Vượng contacted his girlfriend, Phạm Thị Cẩm Lai, a flight attendant, to meet with Trương Tấn Hải to collect the money.[23][24][25] In total, Vượng received an amount equivalent to about 490 million VND, which included $25,000 (around 400million VND at that time) and an additional 90million VND. The total amount of money was less than Lê Quốc Vượng's transfer value that year.[12][24]
Out of the money collected, broker Lý Quốc Kỳ sent 240million VND to the players involved in the match-fixing, with the remaining winnings going to Lê Quốc Vượng.[12] When Lê Quốc Vượng returned to Ho Chi Minh City on 5 December, he shared 20 million VND each with players Phạm Văn Quyến, Lê Bật Hiếu, and Huỳnh Quốc Anh, who set aside another 20million VND for Châu Lê Phước Vĩnh.[26][27] Lê Văn Trương and Trần Hải Lâm chose not to accept any of the illicit money because they felt ashamed.[24]
Investigation
Before the semi-final match between Vietnam U-23 and Malaysia U-23, officials found signs of possible match-fixing. This led to an investigation by the General Department of Security[vi] and the Ministry of Public Security in Vietnam.[28][29] They intercepted a phone conversation involving a reporter who was allegedly acting as a broker.[30] On 2 December, the head of security for the Vietnam national football team warned several players, including Phạm Văn Quyến and Trần Hải Lâm, about the situation.[30] During that time, some national team players had reported their concerns to the investigation agency, believing that certain players on the U-23 team were match-fixing, suspecting so because the team did not perform to their full potential in the match.[28][31]
On 12 December, Phạm Xuân Quắc[vi], the Director General of the Criminal Investigation Department of Social Order, summoned ten of the team's players.[28][32] Investigators believed Lê Quốc Vượng was the initiator of the conspiracy.[33] On 20 December, police found stashes of money at the homes of Lê Quốc Vượng and Phạm Văn Quyến.[33][34]
In response to these concerns, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải ordered an investigation into the actions of Vietnamese players.[35][36] The Vietnam Football Federation was also asked to review the situation. Their analysis of video footage from the match concluded that the actions of some players were connected to match-fixing.[36][13]
Trial
This case was tried by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court[vi] on 25 January 2007 and appealed on 20 April 2007.[23] At the end of the trial, Lê Quốc Vượng and Trương Tấn Hải were sentenced to prison,[37][38] while the other players received only suspended sentences due to mitigating circumstances.[23]
All players were ordered to return the total of 490million VND that they had earned through match-fixing, and each of them was also fined 5million VND.[41] One of the individuals involved, Lý Quốc Kỳ, chose to turn himself into the police on 11 July 2008 and also received a fine of 10million VND.[38] Additionally, two other individuals, Lê Thụy Hải and Trần Hùng Cường, faced disciplinary actions due to their involvement.[13][43] All seven players were banned from playing in other countries by FIFA.[44]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
