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Two jailed for match-fixing in Vietnam
HO CHI MINH CITY (AFP) - A Vietnamese court jailed two former footballers for fixing an international match but handed only suspended prison sentences to six young players involved in the scam.
All eight defendants were found guilty in the high-profile trial of rigging an under-23 match against Myanmar at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in return for cash from a betting syndicate.
"The defendants used their football careers to organise gambling for money," Judge Le Van Ba told the Ho Chi Minh City People´s Court, where about 500 fans, relatives and journalists crowded the court room and corridors.
"This destroyed the prestige of the under-23 team and of Vietnamese football, causing severe consequences," he said after finding all eight defendants guilty of charges of organising gambling.
"This trial aims to uphold the law, purify football and serve as a lesson for others. This was an expensive lesson for the under-23 team and the football federation as well as other football clubs in Vietnam."
Team vice captain Le Quoc Vuong was jailed for six years for organising the scam and bribing his fellow players with 1,250 dollars each for letting the strongly favoured side beat Myanmar 1-0 in the match in Manila.
Vuong´s lawyer, Nguyen Dinh Tho, said the sentence was "too severe" and his client would appeal.
Vuong received a longer term because of an additional conviction of gambling, and was also fined 25,600 dollars.
Truong Tan Hai, a former Saigon Port club player, was jailed for three years for acting as the middleman between players and the betting syndicate´s kingpin, Ly Quoc Ky, who remains at large.
However, the court showed leniency toward popular 22-year-old striker Pham Van Quyen, who broke down in tears on the first day of the trial, and five of his team mates.
It ordered suspended two-year jail terms for Quyen, who was also fined 1,250 dollars, and Chau Le Phuoc Vinh, Le Van Truong and Tran Hai Lam.
Le Bat Hieu and Huynh Quoc Anh were given suspended terms of two and a half years.
Striker Quyen´s lawyer said he was satisfied with the result.
"I am happy because at the end of this year, Quyen´s suspended term will end, and next year he can return to the field," lawyer Pham Liem Chinh.
Judge Ba said "the players received suspended sentences because it was the first time they made such mistakes. They are still young and have been honest and remorseful about their faults."
He also ordered the Vietnam Football Federation consider the responsibilities of deputy coach Le Thuy Hai and assistant coach Tran Hung Cuong in the scandal.
Football betting and other forms of gambling are illegal but widespread in communist-ruled Vietnam, where many fans place bets online with networks based inside the country or in Hong Kong, Macau and other cities.
The Asian Football Confederation last year urged Vietnam to tackle corruption, saying it was "causing untold damage to Asian football."
Prosecutor Nguyen Hong Lac, in his closing speech, stressed that the corruption scandal had badly tarnished the image of the sport in Vietnam, one of Asia´s most football-obsessed countries.
"The state has made big investments in Vietnamese football, especially the national under-23 team," he said.
"However, the defendants betrayed the support of millions of Vietnamese fans for their own benefit."
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