ASEAN Championship scandal as player arrested for match fixing

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FT Desk

A footballer from Laos has been arrested in connection with allegations of match-fixing during the 2026 ASEAN Championship.

The ASEAN Championship takes place every two years and was previously known as the AFF Championship or AFF Cup, and its current sponsored name is the ASEAN Hyundai Cup.

Teams such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore compete to become champions of the region. Thailand is the most successful team historically, while Vietnam won the 2024 and 2026 editions of the tournament.

However, the 2026 tournament is shrouded in scandal after Laos international Soukphachan Lueanthala was arrested after the country's governing body reported alleged bribery, illegal gambling and match result manipulation.

According to the Guardian, Lueanthala has links to a betting operation in Vietnam.

A selection of players were reportedly interviewed by police following the group stage in which Laos lost every match heavily.

They were defeated 5-0 by Thailand, 4-0 by Malaysia and 4-1 by the Philippines before the final group stage match, which ended 7-2 to Myanmar.

It was after the away trip to Myanmar that the results and potential match-fixing were flagged to the authorities.

In August, the LFF announced that it had launched an investigation into the allegations before passing the case on to police. A source with knowledge of the claims, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Lueanthala was suspected of directing other members of the squad and serving as an intermediary between those involved.

A source told the Guardian that match-fixing in Laos football is a long-standing issue as players do not get paid a lot.

“Until last year, they were getting $10 per day when they were joining the national team,” he said.

The source also revealed that one player admitted to taking $10,000 to fix three matches previously, receiving that amount for each individual fixture.

Thipphonexay Inthavongsa was a Laos national team goalkeeper who received a lifetime ban from football for match-fixing in 2020. He was found guilty of conspiring to manipulate the result of an international friendly between Laos and Hong Kong on 5 October 2017 when Hong Kong won the match 4–0.

He was given a lifetime ban in July of 2020, ruling that he could no longer participate in any football-related activities. He was the third Laos international to be banned for life in connection with the match, following teammates Khampheng Sayavuththi and Lembo Saysana, who received their bans earlier that year.