Five Vietnamese football players get indefinite ban for match-fixing

The five players who got banned are Tran Ky Anh, 20, Nguyen Son Hai, 30, Le Bang Gia Huy, 22, Nguyen Quang Huy, 20, and Pham Van Phong, 20.

Police of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province opened a criminal probe against the five on Feb. 1 for gambling. Authorities are continuing to expand the case to clarify other criminal signs. Following this incident, BRVT terminated contracts with these five players.

According to initial investigation, in the match between BRVT and Da Nang at Ba Ria Stadium on Dec. 24, 2023, these five starting players had agreed to underperform together. Prior to that, they had placed bets on the opposing team to win the match. As a result, their club lost 1-3.

BRVT were established in 1991 but dissolved in 1997. In 2006, the province People's Committee approved a project to revitalize the club to play in the third division. In 2010, the club were promoted to the second division but dissolved again in 2012. Five years later, the team were re-established and competed from the third division, then moved up to the second division in 2018 and to the first division in 2020.

Vietnamese football has witnessed several match-fixing incidents like when Nguyen Quoc Vuong and his teammates were involved in match-fixing at the 2005 SEA Games.

Also in this season of the first division, Dong Nai terminated contracts with four players for underperforming in the 0-4 loss against BRVT.