VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has asked the General Department of Sports and Physical Training to investigate the vote counting scandal at the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and clarify the responsibilities of the individuals involved.

Chairman Nguyen Trong Hy and the VFF got unexpected trouble because of the incorrect vote counting case. 

The incorrect vote counting case has significantly affected the reputation of the VFF and some officials. Officials of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism pay special attention to the incident because it is related to a number of officials nominated by the Ministry to the VFF Executive Board.

The Ministry asked its inspectorate to quickly clarify the incident because the VFF’s Congress is coming.

The incident occurred on May 15, at the 12th meeting of the VFF Executive Board. During the meeting, a vote of confidence was held for the nominees for the upcoming election of the VFF Executive Board. Accordingly, the voting results are the grounds for picking the finalists for the election. There were only 19 people casting their ballots but the vote counting results was incorrect.

The voting committee consists of four members: Chairman of the VFF Inspection Board Pham Thanh Long, Chief of the VFF Disciplinary Board Nguyen Hai Huong, Head of the Complaint Board Chu Hong Thanh Duong and VFF Deputy Secretary General Duong Nghiep Khoi.

According to the voting results, VFF Vice Chairman Le Hung Dung, the candidate for the VFF Chairmanship had 18 votes but in fact he had 19 votes. Another candidate – Mr. Nguyen Nam Hung – got 11 votes, three votes more than some finalists but he was not named in the final list. Thanks to Hung’s complaint, the wrong voting results were exposed.

After the case was discovered, VFF Chairman Nguyen Trong Hy stated that no one guided VFF to change the vote results and VFF is ready to make public every ballot if necessary.

Members of the voting committee also confirmed that this is an accident caused by mistakes during the vote counting process. However, it is questioned that with only 19 votes, how the voting committee could made that mistake.

An anonymous member of the VFF Standing Committee expressed his suspicions of voting fraud by confirming that many people did not vote for the Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Khanh Hai, but according to the voting results, he still got 18/19 votes.

24 candidates for the election of the 7th VFF Executive Board

1. Le Hung Dung (Current position: Vice President of VFF - Chairman of Eximbank SJC/Nominated as VFF President and Vice President of Finance)

2. Doan Nguyen Duc (Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC and Group President/VFF Vice President of Finance)

3. Le Khanh Hai (Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism / VFF President)

4. Nguyen Thanh Hai (Director of Viettel Football Center/ Member)

5. Pham Phu Hoa (VPF Deputy Director / Member)

6. Bui Xuan Hoa (Chairman and CEO of Da Nang FC/Member)

7. Duong Van Hien (Faculty Head of the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities/Member - Head of Referee Board)

8. Le Nguyen Hong (Chairman of Quang Nam FC/ Permanent member)

9. Nguyen Nam Hung (Member of VFF Executive Board/Permanent member, Head of the Football Movement Board)

10. Pham Van Hung (Deputy Director of Hai Phong City/member)

11. Duong Vu Lam (Head of VFF Referee Board/member - the head of Referee Board)

12. Nguyen Hien Luong (Director of the People’s Police Sport Center/member)

13. Nguyen Van Hien (Da Nang Professional Sports Department/member - Head of the Referee Board)

14. Le Quy Phuong (Rector of Central Sport University 2/Permanent member)

15. Nguyen Hung Thai (Nam Dinh’s official/member)

16. Nguyen Hong Thanh (CEO of SLNA Football Company – President of SLNA FC/member)

17. Le Van Thanh (President and CEO of Dong Luc Company/member, Vice President of Finance)

18. Phan Anh Tu (Hanoi Football Federation Secretary General / Vice President of Expertise - Vice President of Communications)

19. Tran Anh Tu (President of Thai Son Nam FC - Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation President /member, Head of Futsal Division)

20. Tran Quoc Tuan (Sport Director General / Secretary - Vice President of expertise)

21. Pham Van Tuan (Deputy Director General of the General Department of Sports - Vice President of VFF / Vice President of Expertise)

22. Pham The Trieu (An Giang’s official/Commissioner)

23. Nguyen Lan Trung (VFF Vice President / Vice President of Communications)

24. Pham Ngoc Vien (VFF Vice Chairman - VPF CEO/member)

N. Nguyen