~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnam court cuts jail term for match fixer

HANOI - A Vietnamese appeals court on Friday cut the prison term for an ex-international footballer jailed for fixing an international match from six to four years, a court clerk said. Vietnam vice captain Le Quoc Vuong was jailed in January for rigging Vietnam's under-23 match against Myanmar at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in return for cash from a betting syndicate.

"Vuong was honest this time," the Ho Chi Minh City court clerk said Friday after the sentence reduction. "He admitted his mistakes. His family has also started paying the 25,600 dollar fine." The others who were sentenced in January did not appeal. Truong Tan Hai, a former Saigon Port club player, was jailed for three years at the time for acting as the middleman between the team and the betting syndicate. Six young players are now serving suspended terms. Vuong was found guilty of organising the scam and bribing his fellow players with 1,250 dollars each for letting the strongly favoured side beat Myanmar just 1-0 in the match in Manila.

In communist ruled Vietnam, football betting and other forms of gambling are banned but remain widespread.

Agence France Presse - April 20, 2007.