Eleven players on the under-21 football team of the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap have received a worldwide ban from FIFA over betting on the outcome of their own game.

The punished footballers include Huynh Van Tien, 21, who is banned from participating in football activities worldwide from May 11, 2020 until the end of May 11, 2025. 

Tien was found to have initiated the betting, which was committed during the Dong Thap youth team’s match against their rivals from neighboring Vinh Long Province on June 19, 2019 in the Group C qualification for the national U-21 tournament.

He also enticed eight others out of 11 first-team players and two reserve-team ones to join him in betting VND150 million (US$6,448) that the game would end with two goals or less.

Tien was previously slapped with a VND5 million ($215) fine and a five-year ban from football activities managed by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).

The remaining ten players — Tran Cong Minh, Vo Minh Trong, Nguyen Nhat Truong, Nguyen Anh Phat, Le Nhut Huy, Giang So Ny, Tran Huu Nghia, Cao Tan Hoai, Duong Vu Linh and Kha Tan Tai — have also been banned from global football activities for six months, from May 11, 2020, to November 10, 2020.

Among them, Minh and Trong were members of the national U19 football team that qualified for the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) U19 Championship last year.

Previously, the ten were also fined VND2.5 million ($107) each and slapped with a six-month ban from activities hosted by the VFF.

“FIFA's decision is to expand the scope of discipline to the world after the VFF’s discipline department only banned those players to compete in tournaments organized by the VFF,” said VFF general secretary Le Hoai Anh.

FIFA is the highest international governing body of association football.

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