Court in Vietnam finds 9 soccer officials guilty of accepting match-fixing bribes
HANOI - Seven soccer referees and two sports officials were found guilty Monday of fixing Vietnamese football matches and four were sentenced to up to seven years in prison, a court official said.
The defendants were convicted of "giving, accepting and brokering bribes" worth the equivalent of US$8,440 (€6,200), said presiding judge Le Thi Bao Hang of Hanoi People's Court.
The money was paid to the referees by two Vietnamese football clubs — Dong A Thep Pomina and Ton Hoa Sen Can Tho — to avoid relegation to a lower league, Hang said.
Four referees were jailed for between four and seven years, while three other referees and two sports officials received suspended sentences, Hang said.
The matches took place during the 2005 season.
"The punishments serve as a good lesson for referees and sports officials," she said. "It will help to build up the confidence of millions of Vietnamese football fans."
Vietnamese soccer has seen a string of high-profile cases in connection with bribery and gambling in recent years. In January, seven players of Vietnam's national soccer team were found guilty of fixing a match during the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, held in the Philippines.
The Associated Press - July 2, 2007.
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