Six football players have been taken into custody.
Six players from the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Football Club are accused of conspiring to underperform in matches in order to profit from match-fixing.
On the morning of June 6th, the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Police executed arrest warrants against six suspects, all players of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Football Club, including: NSH (30 years old, residing in Dong Thap province, goalkeeper), LBGH (22 years old, residing in Thanh Hoa province, midfielder), PVP (20 years old, residing in Hai Duong province, forward), NQH (20 years old, residing in Dong Nai province, midfielder), TKA (20 years old, residing in Ben Tre province, midfielder), and NKD (born in 2003, residing in Ho Chi Minh City).
Specifically, suspect TKA was arrested for investigation into the crime of "Gambling"; NKD was arrested for investigation into the crime of "Organizing gambling". The remaining suspects were arrested for investigation into both the crimes of "Gambling" and "Organizing gambling".
These decisions have been approved by the People's Procuratorate at the same level.
According to the investigation results, during the match between Ba Ria - Vung Tau Club and SHB Da Nang Club in the Golden Star Cup on December 24, 2023, at Ba Ria Stadium, five players, namely NSH, LBGH, PVP, NQH, and TKA, conspired to play below their potential.
Subsequently, these players placed bets on SHB Da Nang FC winning on online football betting websites. The match ended with SHB Da Nang FC defeating Ba Ria - Vung Tau FC with a score of 3-1.
Regarding this case, on February 1st, the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Police had previously initiated a criminal case and indicted these five defendants for the crime of "Gambling".
During the expanded investigation of the case, the investigating agency determined that, in the match between Dong Nai Club and Ba Ria - Vung Tau Club in the National Cup at Dong Nai Stadium on November 24, 2023, players NSH, LBGH, PVP, NQH, and NKD agreed to play below their potential and not attack or score goals according to signals from someone in the stands (whose identity is unknown).
The purpose was to have Ba Ria - Vung Tau FC lose to Dong Nai FC with a score of 2-0 in order to profit financially (match-fixing). After the match ended, these players were paid 24 million VND each via bank transfer.
The incident is still under investigation by the authorities.
