Head of V-League Organizing Committee Nguyen Minh Ngoc: 'The HAGL - SLNA match has no smell'

Head of the V-League 2015 Organizing Committee Nguyen Minh Ngoc said that the match between HAGL and SLNA did not have any "smell" as some public opinion suspected in recent days.

HAGL's surprising 3-1 victory over SLNA in round 22 of V-League 2015 has once again sparked negative suspicions in public opinion. Many opinions say that HAGL was given points to stay in V-League, Sports & Culture reporter had a discussion with Tournament Organizing Committee Head Nguyen Minh Ngoc about this issue.

* Sir, in recent days public opinion has been stirred up by suspicions of match-fixing in the match between HAGL and SLNA. What is your opinion on this issue?

- The media has mentioned the match between HAGL and SLNA a lot in the past few days and I don't want to discuss it further. The newspapers have interviewed many leaders and players of both teams so you know very well whether there was match fixing or not. We don't want to discuss this issue anymore.

It is not difficult to understand why the Head of the Organizing Committee Nguyen Minh Ngoc affirmed this. Photo: Thanh Ha

That day, the Head of the VFF Referee Board, Mr. Nguyen Van Mui, was present and Mr. Mui also expressed his opinion that the match had no negative effects. The Organizing Committee as well as many experts shared the opinion that the match had no "smell". HAGL won based on the efforts and determination of the players.

* So expanding to the entire V-League, is the phenomenon of giving up points and asking for points happening?

- The tournament organizers have sent official dispatches to each team and are determined to prevent the phenomenon of giving up and selling points in these final rounds. Clubs must closely and comprehensively coordinate with the tournament organizers, resolutely eliminating the acts of asking for points, giving up points, and fixing scores in any form.

We also require football teams to rectify, strengthen management, closely monitor players, and absolutely oppose negative behavior, violence, betting, and match-fixing.

But it cannot be said that the Organizing Committee is not worried. We have also made calculations and predictions in advance. The first thing we did was to send Notice No. 18 to the teams, requesting them to strictly comply. Besides, we still keep in contact with the security forces to ensure the cleanliness of the tournament.

Head of the tournament organizing committee Nguyen Minh Ngoc affirmed that HAGL (white shirt) won with their own strength.

* So, when coach Tran Binh Su said that "HAGL changed coaches to increase relationships" as reported by the press, will VPF punish Mr. Su or not?

- We cannot make a final conclusion on this issue. The Organizing Committee needs to discuss further with Coach Tran Binh Su because the information published in the press in recent days still has many conflicting opinions about the statement of the Dong Nai team coach. The Organizing Committee needs more time to find out to get the most accurate information, then decide whether to punish Coach Tran Binh Su or not.

According to TTVH