Principal assisted in 'age fraud' of Song Lam Nghe An player

Regarding this violation, on March 21, the Investigation Security Agency of Nghe An Province Police prosecuted and banned Mr. Dung, 54 years old, and Ms. Tu, 41 years old, from leaving their place of residence for the crime of Forging documents of agencies and organizations; Using forged documents of agencies and organizations, according to Clause 2, Article 341 of the Penal Code.

Before being in trouble with the law, Mr. Dung was the principal of Ky Son Primary School, Tan Ky District. Ms. Tu worked at a public service unit under the Tan Ky District People's Committee. Currently, both have been suspended from work by their respective agencies.

Exposed from parents' accusations

At the National U11 Football Tournament held in August 2024, the U11 Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) team defeated host Bac Ninh 1-0 in the final to win the championship for the 8th time. However, throughout the tournament, SLNA was accused by some parents of other teams of age fraud, starting from the qualifying round in Thanh Hoa, involving a player from Ha Tinh (Tu's nephew).

According to the parents, this boy was not born in 2013 but in 2010. He studied in grades 1C - 4C at Dau Lieu Primary School, Hong Linh Town, Ha Tinh Province, from 2016 to 2018. In December 2019, the boy was transferred to Ky Son Primary School, Tan Ky District, Nghe An Province, according to his wishes. At this time, he had almost finished the first semester of the 4th grade program.

In 2022, the boy transferred to Cua Nam 1 Primary School, Vinh City, Nghe An Province, and was also admitted to the youth football training center of SLNA Club. However, through document comparison, there were many inconsistent details. Although he had almost finished the first semester of the 4th grade program, his transfer record stated "currently in 3rd grade".

During the inspection, the authorities determined that the player's records were fraudulent. Accordingly, at the time the boy moved to Tan Ky district, Nghe An province, to attend elementary school, Ms. Tu forged her nephew's birth certificate and citizen identification card, then asked Principal Dung to correct the transcript to match.

The boy's profile "tricked" the authorities as well as recruiters. The boy was then admitted to the Youth Football Training Center of SLNA Club.

Academic transcripts are not included in the application.

Mr. Ho Le Duc, General Director of SLNA Club, said that at the end of 2024, when receiving feedback from parents, the unit sent an official dispatch to Nghe An Provincial Police asking them to investigate the background of all young players who were training at the team. After discovering that Ms. Tu's nephew had cheated on his age, the club transferred this young player to practice at his age instead of firing him. Currently, the boy's expertise is at an average level, and in the long term, it will be difficult for him to meet the training requirements of the coaching staff.

According to Mr. Duc, SLNA often recruits young players based on birth certificates and citizen identification cards, with careful comparison between the original and the copy. Academic records are not included in the preliminary selection file, and only when there is a complaint will the Vietnam Football Federation check from many sides. Mr. Duc commented that in the case of Ms. Tu's grandchild, relatives may have been prepared for the worst, so they asked Principal Dung to correct or falsify the academic records to match all documents. However, this behavior was still exposed.

"In addition to the identification documents confirmed by the authorities, the club also requires the player's family to commit to the age of their child when they are admitted to youth training," said Mr. Duc, adding that parents intentionally "cheating on the age" of their children will unintentionally affect their future and miss out on development opportunities.

SLNA is the leading youth training center in Vietnam, but has been involved in many suspicions related to the age of players in youth tournaments. SLNA's youth team was stripped of the national U11 tournament title in 2001, 2002; U13 tournament in 2003, U15 tournament in 2003. The teams had to pay a fine of 20 million VND and were banned from competing for 2 years. Even in the 2023 national U11 tournament in Dak Lak, SLNA was also involved in suspicions when some of their players had superior physiques to their opponents.

In September 2024, VFF disciplined a series of individuals and groups of U11 SLNA for registering and using players of the wrong age at the 2024 National U11 Tournament.

According to the decision announced later, the SLNA U11 team, Head of Delegation Tran Quang Dung and coach Nguyen Quang Tho were banned from participating in tournaments organized by the Vietnam Football Federation for 2 years.

The U11 team was also fined 10 million VND and had all titles, cups, medals and bonuses at the 2024 National U11 Tournament revoked.

According to the VFF Disciplinary Board, the Nghe An youth football team registered and used players of the wrong age, seriously violating the regulations of the National U11 Football Tournament held in August.

In addition to the SLNA team competing in the 2024-2025 V-League, the SLNA Youth Football Training Center currently trains more than 200 athletes from U9 to U21. Every year, Nghe An province allocates nearly 30 billion VND from its budget to pay for benefits and policies for coaches and athletes.

The whole Nghe An province has 25 football talent classes, each class has 20-25 students. Every year, the Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center divides into two competition groups, selecting talented children for the youth training "furnace".