Hanoi: The Vietnamese police have pressed criminal charges against seven soccer referees and a coach for match fixing, as part of a crackdown aimed at ridding the country's most popular sport of corruption, state media reported on Friday.
The referees, including one FIFA-certified official, were accused of taking bribes to fix domestic league matches.
Tran Manh Cuong, assistant coach of league side East Asia Bank-Pomina Steel, was charged with paying off referees to influence matches involving his team during the 2004-2005 season.
These are the first people to be prosecuted since the Vietnamese police launched a clean hands campaign in September to root out corruption from the game.
If found guilty, the seven accused could face up to 20 years in jail.
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