August 1 – The Asian Football Confederation has extended the domestic ban on nine Vietnamese players to confederation level for their role in the country’s match-fixing scandal. The chairman of the AFC Disciplinary Committee took the move following a request from Vietnam’s own national federation.
The Vietnamese Football Federation (VFF) had provisionally banned the XM Vissai Ninh Binh FC players in May from taking part in any kind of football-related activities after they reportedly admitted to taking money to fix an AFC Cup match.
Ninh Binh was withdrawn from the Vietnam top flight amid fears domestic games could also have been fixed while the police opened criminal proceedings against the players for violating the country’s gambling laws.
The extension of the ban to regional tournaments shall be for six months backdated to May pending a final verdict by the VFF, the AFC said in a statement.
In a separate incident, police have detained six more Vietnamese players on suspicion of throwing a domestic league game. The six Dong Nai players were questioned immediately after their recent 5-3 defeat by Quang Ninh in a top flight V.League match.
Local agency reports said the players helped arrange to lose by two goals and were to be paid VND400 million (US$19,000) after striking a deal with an illegal bookmaker via an online betting website on a server located overseas.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734906978labto1734906978ofdlr1734906978owedi1734906978sni@w1734906978ahsra1734906978w.wer1734906978dna1734906978
