[Vnbiz] Police: 2006 is the cleanest year for Vietnam football

[Phan, Tai]

Police: 2006 is the cleanest year for Vietnam football

BANGKOK: Vietnamese police say 2006 has been the "cleanest" year yet for the country's scandal-ridden football league, thanks to a drive to tackle match-fixing, state media reported on Thursday. 

Police said their "clean hands" campaign, launched a year ago, saw them bust 334 cases of illegal gambling, which led to 1,554 arrests across 39 of the country's 64 provinces, the Thanh Nien daily said. 

Cash and assets worth 3.5bil dong (US$219,000) had been seized, including 160 motorcycles, 13 cars, 382 mobile phones, and 54 computers, police said. 

The daily quoted a senior police official as saying the year had been the cleanest in Vietnamese soccer history, although he admitted several cases of alleged match-fixing were still under investigation. 

Vietnam's most popular sport has been tainted by a string of match-rigging scandals, the most high-profile taking place during last year's SEA Games in Manila. 

Eight current and former national team players have been charged with ensuring Vietnam beat minnows Myanmar 1-0 in return for 500mil dong (US$31,000) each. 

Another player, the alleged ringleader Ly Quoc Ky, has gone on the run, police said. 

Gambling is illegal in Vietnam, although the government announced this week it may legalise football betting by the middle of next year. 

Five foreign bookmakers have expressed interest in setting up in Vietnam and are awaiting the go-ahead from the government. - Reuters