VTV fined for reporting wrong information about player Cong Phuong's age

On the afternoon of December 30, 2014, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Information and Communications issued Decision No. 1987/QD-XPVPHC to fine VTV 15 million VND for providing incorrect information about the age of player Nguyen Cong Phuong in the program Chuyen Dong 24h broadcast on VTV1. VTV must also correct the above incorrect information according to the provisions of law.

Content of VTV reporter's investigation into the suspicion of player Cong Phuong cheating on his age broadcast on Chuyen Dong 24h on November 16:

On the afternoon of December 30, 2014, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Information and Communications issued Decision No. 1987/QD-XPVPHC to fine VTV 15 million VND for providing incorrect information about the age of player Nguyen Cong Phuong in the program Chuyen Dong 24h broadcast on VTV1 with some incorrect content. Specifically, the incorrect content is: "Cong Phuong's year of birth 1995 began to appear in 2006" (November 8, 2014); "Up to this point, all other documents as we have proven are invalid" (November 16, 2014). VTV must also correct the above incorrect information according to the provisions of law.

Explaining during the working session with the authorities of the Ministry of Information and Communications on the afternoon of December 30, 2014, VTV representative also stated that the programs broadcast about the age of player Cong Phuong, the program did not draw any conclusions about Cong Phuong's year of birth but only pointed out the contradictions in the records stating Cong Phuong's age. In the programs that have been broadcast, we (VTV-PV) also used the image of player Cong Phuong which has become popular in the mass media.

Based on information from the press, VTV has investigated and found many inconsistencies and inconsistencies regarding the real age of player Cong Phuong. VTV has raised this for the player or the authorities to explain or clarify. After the program aired, VTV continued to receive documents showing ambiguity and inconsistencies in Cong Phuong's birth certificate and school report card.

The minutes of the meeting also clearly stated the opinion of VTV's representative as follows: "In compliance with the general direction, we will not continue to exploit and would like to provide more information for the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Information and Communications to have in the direction. Therefore, it cannot be said that the program has false content. We admit our shortcomings in the way the program was presented, the broadcast time was not appropriate and we need to learn from experience."

Previously, in mid-November 2014, the online community was in an uproar after VTV broadcast an investigation into the suspicion that soccer player Cong Phuong lied about his age on the program Chuyen Dong 24h in 3 episodes on November 13, 15, and 16, 2014.

Public opinion was displeased with the way Chuyen Dong 24h reported, especially after the noon news on November 15, writer Nguyen Quang Vinh and editor Ngoc Trinh debated the goal of finding Cong Phuong's real age. Editor Ngoc Trinh said that the goal was not to bring Cong Phuong down but to protect honesty in sports, because if dishonest (age cheating) there is a risk of killing a young talent.

Then, on the evening of November 16, 24h Movement continued to release evidence that VTV reporters had collected when investigating the truth about the age of player Cong Phuong. 24h Movement published information about Cong Phuong's private life such as: Original birth certificate, copy of birth certificate, household registration book, primary school transcript, primary school graduation certificate of Cong Phuong, population declaration kept at Do Luong District Police... All of this evidence is to prove that Cong Phuong was born in 1993, not in 1995 as Cong Phuong's profile is kept at Hoang Anh Gia Lai Football Academy.

After this series of investigative reports, the online community was outraged and demanded that VTV apologize to player Cong Phuong for revealing his personal information without his consent.

The incident caused such a stir in public opinion that the Ministry of Information and Communications invited VTV representatives to work with them. The Ministry of Information and Communications then sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Justice to verify the legality of information related to citizens' personal information such as: Birth certificate, household registration book, school records... At the same time, the Ministry of Information and Communications also requested the Ministry of Justice to authenticate Cong Phuong's birth certificate.

As of December 5, 2014, the Nghe An Department of Justice has officially confirmed: “Cong Phuong was born on January 21, 1995”. This information was provided to the press by Mr. Hoang Quoc Hao, Director of the Nghe An Department of Justice. Mr. Hao said that he will report the verification results to the Ministry of Justice and the Chairman of the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee to publicly announce them in the media.

According to Mr. Hao, on November 21, the Department of Justice of Do Luong District (Nghe An) sent a document with the results of the real age of citizen Nguyen Cong Phuong. Due to some unclear points, the Department of Justice directed Mr. Duong Huu Dung, Deputy Director of the Department, to form a working group to go to the locality to verify.

On December 4, the working group returned to My Son commune to inspect and reported to superiors about Cong Phuong's real age, which was consistent with the age previously provided by the Do Luong District Justice Department.

Live debate between writer Nguyen Quang Vinh and editor Ngoc Trinh on Chuyen Dong 24h about the age fraud suspicion of soccer player Cong Phuong at noon on November 15:

According to ICTnews