Two out of nine professional football (soccer) players of V-League side Vissai Ninh Binh who admitted to having won US$37,700 after betting on their own game against Malaysian rivals at an Asian cup in March, have been detained on charges of gambling.

>> Owner suspends Vietnam football club over alleged match-fixing in Asia >> Vietnam footballers who bet on own Asia game to get life ban

They were arrested on April 29 and will be in detention for 30 days from that date, according to police in the northern province of Ninh Binh, where club Vissai Ninh Binh is based.

The two detainees – midfielder Tran Manh Dung and goalie Nguyen Manh Dung – are believed to be the masterminds behind the gambling ring while the seven others are put under arrest at their club headquarters pending further investigation, according to local investigators.

The bookmaker Dao Duc Loi, a 36-year-old Vietnamese national living in the northern city of Hai Phong, is being wanted by Vietnamese police. Football betting is illegal in Vietnam.

The nine footballers had earlier admitted to police that they bet on their match against Malaysia’s Kelantan FA at the 2014 AFC Cup, an international football competition for clubs organized annually by the Asian Football Confederation, on March 18.

The players pocketed VND800 million ($37,700) from winning the wager, according to investigators from the PC45 police unit in Ninh Binh.

The investigators said in a report that three days prior to the game, midfielder Tran Manh Dung met with goalie Nguyen Manh Dung and defenders Le Quang Hung and Le Van Duyet at The Vissai Ninh Binh Hotel to discuss the betting plan. The meeting then ended without an agreement.

On March 17, when the Vissai Ninh Binh squad arrived in Malaysia, Tran Manh Dung continued to entice the three players plus five more teammates to join his wagering plan, including defenders Pham Xuan Phu, Chu Ngoc Anh and Nguyen Gia Tu, striker Phan Anh Tuan, and goalie Nguyen Van Hung.

Midfielder Tran Manh Dung intended to bet on Total Goals Over 3 with a stake of VND2 billion ($94,340). The players involved agreed that if they won the bet, the winning money would be equally divided. Otherwise, they would incur the loss together.

Total Goals refers to a type of betting which depends on the total number of goals scored in a match during 90 minutes.

In the Total Goals Over 3, bettors will win if more than three goals are scored regardless of which team wins the match. They will lose only if fewer than three goals are scored.

In the event that exactly three goals are scored, their stake will be refunded.

After an agreement was reached among the nine players, Tran Manh Dung and Nguyen Manh Dung used a mobile phone inserted with a Malaysian SIM card to call Dao Duc Loi in Vietnam to place the bet, which Loi accepted.

On March 18 afternoon, before the Vissai Ninh Binh-Kelantan match kicked off, the players met again to confirm their wager.

Tran Manh Dung then phoned to reaffirm the bet with Loi but the bookmaker this time only accepted a stake of VND1.02 billion ($48,100).

The match ended with the Vietnamese side winning 3-2, enabling the nine players to win VND800 million.

The nine then shared the amount and gave VND15 million ($700) to Loi as a commission and VND70 million ($3,300) to two other teammates, who knew about their betting, to silence them.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!