Authorities at Thien Truong Stadium in the central province of Nam Dinh were not to blame for the assault of a photojournalist by security staff last Sunday, the Vietnam Football Federation have ruled.
The head of the federation’s disciplinary department,
Nguyen Hai Huong, told the media Thursday that he did not find the
authorities culpable based on reports from the match and stadium
officials.
“We settled the case based only on the written reports we got,” Saigon Giai Phong newspaper quoted him as saying.
His comments come in the context of a videotape showing Duy Bui of the 24h Sports
daily being surrounded by several security staff to stop him from
taking photos of a clash between players from the host team Nam Dinh
and Dong Tam Long An in the 34th minute.
They grabbed his hands, dragged him to a corner, and demanded that he erase the photos from his camera, Bui said.
One then snatched the camera and deleted the pictures himself, he said.
Television channels have aired the tape again and again but the VFF apparently ignored it when reaching their verdict.
Duy Bui has made no comment yet.
The VFF have not indicated if they consulted policemen who were at the scene but kept out of the fracas.