Flare shooter to serve time over football match injury

Vu Trung Truc, 36, was charged with disrupting public order and deliberate infliction of bodily harm, according to the People’s Court in Hanoi's Dong Da District.

Two other men, Tran Van Sung, 25, and Tran Dac Chuong, 19, were sentenced to eight and six months in jail respectively for resisting law enforcement.

On September 11 last year, Truc, a fan of Nam Dinh football club, fired a flare inside Hanoi's Hang Day Stadium, where a football match between Hanoi FC and Nam Dinh was taking place. The flare fell onto the thigh of 35-year-old To Huyen Anh, inducing two surgeries.

Chuong kicked an officer thrice, while Sung threw a water bottle at another when police tried to impose order.

Truc has voluntarily compensated Anh VND40 million ($1,736).

Vietnam bans the lighting of flares at all football matches on safety considerations.