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Vietnam soccer official quits over scandal

HANOI: A vice chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation has resigned following allegations of match-fixing by players in the recent Southeast Asian games, an official said on Tuesday.

Federation vice chairman Le The Tho submitted his resignation Monday and it has been accepted, said a senior federation official, requesting anonymity. Tho has in recent weeks faced concerted attacks in the state media, which has accused him of failing to prevent alleged attempts by some Under 23 players to arrange match results during the Games earlier this month.

State-run dailies quoted Tho as saying he was quitting because of unfair allegations. “Some newspapers carried inaccurate information aimed at undermining my reputation ... I voluntarily resign from the VFF standing committee,” Thanh Nien (Youth) daily quoted Tho as saying in a letter. Tho, who was in charge of the U-23 team during the Games, was earlier reported to have told VFF officials that he only learned of match-fixing attempts two minutes before a match with Myanmar.

But he did not inform other officials or the national coach, Alfred Riedl. Leading striker Pham Van Quyen and midfielder Le Quoc Vuong have been arrested over accusations that they fixed the results. They and other players have been questioned on suspicion of attempts to fix matches against Myanmar and Malaysia during the Games. The VFF has suspended five more players from the U23 team pending a police investigation.

Vietnam beat Myanmar 1-0 after some Vietnamese players appeared to slow down their play. Police are also investigating allegations of an attempt to fix another match with Malaysia that Vietnam won 2-1.

Vietnamese football has been under intense scrutiny with police already investigating fraud allegations implicating some 90 referees, coaches and players in the professional V-League. afp

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