Vietnamese football league organizer, Swiss data firm ink deal to combat match-rigging

January 28, 2016 | 14:16

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A football (soccer) league organizer has shaken hands with a Swiss data company to track and prevent match-rigging in tournaments in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Professional Football Company (VPF), which is authorized by the Vietnam Football Federation to organize football leagues in the Southeast Asian country, entered into an agreement with Sportradar on Monday in a bid to prevent dishonesty in the Beautiful Game.

Sportradar, based in St. Gallen, Switzerland, provides sports data and digital content for its clients around the world.

The VPF will cooperate with Sportradar in accessing information and analyzing data related to games in the V-League 1, V-League 2, National Cup, as well as in organizing seminars on match-fixing prevention for participating clubs, taught by leading instructors invited by the Swiss firm, according to their deal.

The Vietnamese firm said it will place emphasis on combating match-rigging in the 2016 season.

Biplav Gautam, director of federation services, Asia at Sportradar, said at the signing ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City that this cooperation does not mean that rigging is taking place in VPF-organized competitions.

The deal is only indicative of Vietnamese football becoming more professional in terms of organization and management, Gautam said, adding that his customers are the Union of European Football Associations, the Asian Football Confederation, the German Football Association, the Football Federation Australia, and the Major League Soccer.

Sportradar has organized six workshops for 14 Vietnamese clubs and explained to Vietnamese football officials how its data system works during the past two weeks.

The company has also worked with security officials in Vietnam regarding match-rigging issues, Gautam said.

The VPF will closely collaborate with the Swiss firm to crack down on any misconduct in football, he added.

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