Looking back at the most controversial championship in V-League history

A quarter of a century since the inaugural professional V-League campaign, Sông Lam Nghệ An's thrilling championship in the 2000/01 season is still among the most contentious tales in Vietnamese football.

Twenty-five years have passed, yet the first V-League season in Vietnam's football history continues to leave a major "stain" and never stops sparking controversy.

Back then, the V-League 2000/01 title race entered the final round with the spotlight on Nam Định and Sông Lam Nghệ An. The "Team from the Southern City" held a huge advantage, leading the "Team from Nghệ An" by exactly 1 point and only needing a draw against Cảng Sài Gòn at Thống Nhất Stadium to claim the crown. Meanwhile, SLNA faced a much tougher situation: they had to beat Công An Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh at Vinh Stadium while hoping Cảng Sài Gòn could defeat Nam Định.

In the end, the most shocking scenario in V-League history unfolded. At Thống Nhất Stadium, the "Team from the Southern City" unexpectedly collapsed entirely, suffering a humiliating 0-5 loss to Cảng Sài Gòn. At the same time, at Vinh Stadium, the "Team from Nghệ An" won a nail-biting 4-3 victory over CA TP.HCM, overtaking their rival in the very last round to claim the championship.

The two unusual scores immediately sent shockwaves through Vietnamese football. Public opinion at the time suspected that SLNA had paid money to both teams from the city named after Uncle Ho to "clear the path" to the title.

Regarding Cảng Sài Gòn, many believed the team had accepted "motivation money" to give their all against Nam Định. However, Ms. Nguyễn Xuân Thái (then head delegate of Cảng Sài Gòn) completely denied this information. According to her, coach Phạm Huỳnh Tam Lang and the management only asked the players to fight for honor and the fans.

Nevertheless, a detail that caught many people's attention was that before the match, Mr. Ngô Tử Hà (then VFF Vice President and Head of the Tournament Organizing Committee) repeatedly called Cảng Sài Gòn to remind them to play honestly. He even requested that if Cảng Sài Gòn scored, they must immediately report it to him, who was then at Vinh Stadium watching the match of the "Team from Nghệ An".

While the suspicion surrounding Cảng Sài Gòn never had clear evidence, the incident in the match between SLNA and CA TP.HCM involved specific money flows and prompted the C14 investigation agency to get involved.

According to the report by Lieutenant Colonel Hoàng Trọng Thanh (then head delegate of CA TP.HCM), after the match, two players from the "Team from Nghệ An"—Nguyễn Phi Hùng and Ngô Quang Trường—brought 65 million Vietnamese đồng to the hotel where CA TP.HCM was staying to "compensate" player Bùi Sĩ Thành.

Notably, afterward, a group of players from both teams used 5 million đồng from this amount to go drinking. When the incident was discovered, Mr. Hoàng Trọng Thanh immediately recovered all the money and personally returned it to SLNA's coach and treasurer Nguyễn Xuân Vinh in the presence of the "Team from Nghệ An"'s coaching staff.

It didn't stop there: public opinion also exploded over another detail—the championship trophy had already been brought to Vinh Stadium by the organizers before the final round took place, even though Nam Định had greater control over their own destiny.

The organizers explained that this was a request from the sponsor for live television coverage, and an identical backup trophy had been placed at Thống Nhất Stadium. However, VTV's commentary program later confirmed that no second trophy appeared at Nam Định's match venue.

This detail led the investigation agency to summon many members of the tournament organizing committee to clarify whether there were signs of known outcomes in advance or complicity in the irregularities of the final round.

Despite numerous allegations and controversies lasting for years, Sông Lam Nghệ An's championship remained unchanged. To this day, the first professional season of Vietnamese football is still regarded as one of the biggest dramas in V-League history.