Vietnamese (harsher than Italian) Justice
by briandtw on Friday, January 26th, 2007 at 09:54am
When you fix soccer matches in Viet Nam, you pay a slightly harsher price than in Italy. According to chinaview.cn, “Seven Vietnamese national soccer players and a former player received imprisonment and suspension sentences of two to six years for fixing an international match.”
“Midfielder Le Quoc Vuong wooed his teammates to rig the qualification match against Myanmar at the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in the Philippines in November 2005. Their poor performance on purpose resulted in a 1-0 victory in favor of Vietnam as expected by local bookmakers.”
The total amount the players collectively made for being paid off and on bets they placed: $30,600. Of course, in a place where $30 a month is considered steady income, that puts some perspective on their motviation.