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Vietnamese police arrest football referee for bribery [Fri Aug 26th, 2005]
Hanoi (AP) -- A football referee was arrested for fixing a match, and Vietnamese police are investigating his three assistants, officials and state-controlled media reported.
The investigation alleges that Luong Trung Viet and his assistants received US$1,260 from the Ho Chi Minh City-based East Asia-Povina Steel team to influence an April match against Huda Hue in its favor, the state-run Youth newspaper reported. East Asia-Povina Steel won the match 2-1.
This marks the first time in Vietnamese football history that a referee was arrested for bribery.
Viet was taken into police custody in the southern Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, about 93 miles southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, according to Trinh Van Phan, director of Tra Vinh's Sports Department.
Viet's alleged involvement in match fixing first surfaced in late April when officials from the Vietnam Football Federation received messages that Viet sent to a colleague's mobile phone, the newspaper said. The VFF then asked police to help investigate.
Tran Quoc Tuan, VFF general secretary, told The Associated Press he was not surprised that a referee is being investigated for bribery. Vietnamese football, the most popular sport in the communist country, has been plagued by scandals and match-fixing.
Several players have been jailed for match fixing in recent years.
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