Vietnamese players admit betting on own AFC Cup match

Nine football (soccer) players of the V-League side Vissai Ninh Binh have won betting money worth VND800 million (US$37,700) from their AFC Cup match against a Malaysian club last month, according to a report by Vietnamese police on Friday.

The PC45 police unit in Ninh Binh, a northern province some 100km south from Hanoi, confirmed Friday that the nine footballers have been involved in football betting and match-fixing during their match with Malaysia’s Kelantan at the 2014 AFC Cup, an international football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation, on March 18.

These players were on Friday summoned by police for investigation, after which they admitted their involvement in the gambling.

Placing bet from Malaysia

Three days prior to the game with Kelantan, midfielder Tran Manh Dung met with goalie Nguyen Manh Dung and defenders Le Quang Hung and Le Van Duyet at The Vissai Ninh Binh Hotel to discuss the plan to place wager on their coming match, PC45 Ninh Binh said in a report.

But the meeting ended without an agreement between the four men.

On March 17, when Vissai Ninh Binh squad already arrived in Malaysia, Tran Manh Dung continued to entice the above three players plus five more teammates to join his betting plan.

The new players being asked to join the bet are defenders Pham Xuan Phu, Chu Ngoc Anh and Nguyen Gia Tu, striker Phan Anh Tuan and goalie Nguyen Van Hung.

Midfielder Tran Manh Dung intended to bet on Total Goals Over 3 with a stake of VND2 billion ($94,340). The players involved agreed that if they won the bet, the winning money would be equally divided. Otherwise, they would pay the losing VND2 billion stake together.

Total goals is the kind of bet depending on the number of goals scored in total for a match during 90 minutes. In the Total Goals Over 3, bettors will win if more than three goals are scored, regardless of which team wins the match. They will lose if only one or two goals are scored. If exactly three goals are scored, their stake will be refunded.

After an agreement was reached among the nine players, Tran Manh Dung and Nguyen Manh Dung used a mobile phone inserted with a Malaysian SIM card to call Dao Duc Loi, 36, residing in northern Hai Phong Province, to place the bet, which Loi accepted.

On the afternoon of March 18, before the Vissai Ninh Binh – Kelantan match started, the players met again to confirm their wager.

Tran Manh Dung then phoned back to Vietnam to reaffirm the bet with Dao Duc Loi. But the bookmaker this time only accepted a stake of VND1.02 billion.

The match ended with the Vietnamese side winning 3-2, enabling the nine players to win the bet at VND800 million.

Tran Manh Dung told the involved teammates about the winning money and promised to share it among them when the squad returned to Vietnam.

Money transferred via intermediary

On March 19, when Vissai Ninh Binh arrived back to Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Manh Dung phoned the bookmaker, requesting to claim the winning money.

In order to dodge detection, Loi told Tran Manh Dung to have someone living in HCMC to receive the money on his behalf. Loi would transfer the money via a gold shop in Hai Phong Province to a hotel in the southern city.

Since Tran Manh Dung does not have any acquaintance in HCMC, he asked Nguyen Manh Dung to find someone to get the money for them. Nguyen Manh Dung then asked a friend of his, Tran Cong Thanh, based in District 1, to do the task.

When the money transfer was completed, Tran Manh Dung divided VND800 million among the players involved.

Those in the main formation of the match against Kelantan, including Le Quang Hung, Le Van Duyet, Nguyen Gia Tu and Nguyen Van Hung, each received VND85 million ($4,000).

The substitutes, including Chu Ngoc Anh, Phan Anh Tuan, Nguyen Manh Dung, Pham Xuan Phu and Tran Manh Dung, got a share of VND75 million each.

Le Quang Hung, Hoang Danh Ngoc, Tran Manh Dung, Chu Ngoc Anh, Le Van Thang and Le Van Duyet used to be members of the Vietnam’s national Under-23 football team, while Nguyen Manh Dung, Le Quang Hung, Tran Manh Dung and Nguyen Gia Tu have been playing at the national squad.

After they were summoned to Ninh Binh police, all of the nine players admitted their involvement in placing wager and match-fixing. They also gave back the money won from the bet to police.

Tran Manh Dung confessed to police that he also had to pay money to two teammates in exchange for their silence about his bet.

Midfielder Le Van Thang was not involved in the gambling but was paid VND20 million so that he would not denounce his fellows.

Meanwhile, Hoang Danh Ngoc sent a SMS message to Tran Manh Dung, threatening to report his act to the coaching team. Tran Manh Dung then voluntarily transferred VND50 million to Ngoc.

Police are investigating further and verifying allegations that several Vissai Ninh Binh footballers have also been involved in betting and match-fixing on the matches at the ongoing 2014 V-League, Vietnam’s top-tier football league.

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