Following the “incomprehensible” 4-2 loss to Malaysia in the AFF Suzuki Cup, Vietnam’s football team is now the focus of an investigation into match fixing.
An official from the Ministry of Public Security's criminal police department has reportedly requested the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to provide identifying information and financial records of Vietnam’s defenders an anonymous source inside the VFF has told Thanh Nien.
While there has been a history of match fixing in Vietnamese football, preliminary reports from betting sites seem to show no statistical anomalies that would indicate a fixed match.
However, a history of match fixing in both local and international competitions raises eyebrows about any loss that seems a bit fishy. In August, Tran Manh Dung, a player on Ninh Binh in the V-league, was sentenced to 30 months in jail for match fixing. Additionally, in July, the VFF Disciplinary Committee suspended 6 players from any kind of football-related activity following a national investigation.
Time will only tell whether or not this is a simple case of a massive choke in a vital game or another fixed match.
[Thanh Nien // Photo via The New Paper]
