Vietnam police arrested a senior government official for participating in illegal football betting. Bui Tien Dung, director general at the Ministry of Transport, was suspended from his position.
According to local media, Dung is charged of spending about 1.8 million dollars on football betting. Some other officials were suspected of participating in the same betting net. Twenty two police officers were held in December, one of them was suspected as the leader of the betting net.
Vietnam Prime Minister Phan Van Khai asked the transport minister to prepare a detailed report on the topic before Wednesday.
Even though football betting is illegal in Vietnam, it is very popular. Many major organizations bet on foreign matches. Vietnam football League has been flawed by accusations of corruption since its debut in 2000-2001 season.
