Phu Tho Club match-fixing case, Department of Sports and Physical Training requests: VFF to report before May 8

The sports industry has given its initial opinion on the case of Phu Tho Club being demoted from second division to third division by FIFA for participating in match-fixing.

The incident involving Phu Tho Club seriously affects the image of Vietnamese football.

On May 6, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) received a document from the Vietnam Sports Administration, requesting a report on the incident related to Phu Tho Club.

The content of the document is as follows: "Recently, the Vietnam Sports Department received information from the World Football Federation (FIFA) announcing that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to remove Phu Tho Club from the 2025 second division and have to play in the third division next season due to allegations of match manipulation (match-fixing) in a number of previous matches.

The above information has seriously affected the image of Vietnamese football.

In order to have a basis to report to the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam Sports Department requests that the VFF report on the above incident, in which it is necessary to clearly state the process and the role of the VFF in supervising and inspecting the organization of the tournament in general, and the matches of Phu Tho Club in particular, and at the same time propose measures to thoroughly prevent similar violations that may occur in the future. The VFF is requested to coordinate and send a report to the Sports Department before May 8, 2025."

Phu Tho team was eliminated from the second division.

Recently, FIFA concluded that Kenya's Muhoroni Youth Club and Phu Tho Club had manipulated a number of matches in the tournaments they participated in. Phu Tho Club of Vietnam was also found guilty of manipulating the match. The team will be removed from the second division and relegated to the third division. FIFA said the clubs involved can appeal the decision with a deadline of May 12.

Before receiving the penalty from FIFA, Phu Tho Club started the 2025 second division season with a record of 3 consecutive losses. In the 2023-2024 first division season, Phu Tho Club was relegated with a record of only 1 win, 3 draws and 16 losses after 20 rounds.

It is known that VFF also sent a written reminder, asking Phu Tho Club to explain after the losses in the first division. These explanations have been reported by VFF to FIFA and AFC.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vu-clb-phu-tho-dan-xep-ty-so-cuc-tdtt-yeu-cau-vff-bao-cao-truoc-ngay-85-185250506161720646.htm