Foul play detected in transfer of foreign footballers at Vietnam club

Vo Dong Lap, deputy Party Secretary and vice director of the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Kien Giang, has violated regulations on financial management and moral codes in lifestyle, according to the inspection commission of the Kien Giang Party Committee.

Many of his subordinates were involved in the wrongdoings, according to the commission.

Inspectors said Lap failed to record legal documents in the transfer of four foreign footballers to play for Kien Long Bank FC in Kien Giang at a total cost of VND4.5 billion ($209,700).

Earlier, Lap had been accused of lifting the transfer prices of striker Oseni from $55,000 to $70,000 and of player Tuluwase from $45,000 to $55,000 to pocket the differences.

In addition, it has been alleged that he asked three players including Oseni, Tuluwase, and Friday to pay him $3,000 each a year as commission for the transfer.

Provincial inspectors decided to forward the alleged wrongful spending of VND4.5 billion for transferring footballers for further investigation by police in the coming time.

Inspectors also pointed out that he failed to obey state regulations on the management of costs for sports development in his locality, involving VND1.56 billion ($72,700).

Local sports schools under Lap’s management made wrongful spending worth over VND900 million ($41,940) in total, according to inspectors.

Lap used his power to force agencies under his management to buy sports equipment at a shop owned by his wife from 2010 to 2014 worth almost VND1.7 billion ($79,200), inspections showed.

The same inspections indicated that his juniors implicated in the wrongdoings include Tran Huy Dam, Truong Thanh Toan, and Nguyen Tuan Anh, who are all heads of the Kien Giang sports training school; Ho Thanh Thao, an accountant; Tran Truong Hien, director of the Kien Giang sports center; Nguyen Quoc Vinh, the center’s vice director; and Nguyen Pham Dai Trang, an accountant.