A Laos international has been arrested in connection with allegations of match-fixing during the 2026 Asean Championship after the country’s football federation referred suspected bribery, illegal gambling and match manipulation to the authorities. Soukphachan Lueanthala, a winger who featured for Laos during the tournament and plays in his homeland for Salavan United, is understood to have been accused of helping to organise the alleged operation on behalf of a betting syndicate believed to be from Vietnam. According to sources close to the Laos team, he was arrested after several squad members were questioned by police after returning from their last match at the tournament for south-east Asian nations, away to Myanmar, at the start of August.
The arrest has not been confirmed by the federation (LFF) or Lao police, but the Guardian has established that the player is in custody. The game against Myanmar ended in a 7-2 defeat and followed three other heavy losses during the group stage: 5-0 to Thailand, 4-0 to Malaysia and 4-1 to the Philippines. The LFF confirmed in a statement on 7 August that it had opened an investigation before referring the case to police.
According to a source familiar with the allegations, who did not want to be named, Lueanthala was suspected of giving instructions to other squad members and acting as a link between those involved. Laos, managed by the Serb Vladica Grujic, failed to match the results achieved two years earlier when they scored seven goals and conceded 11 in four games, pulling off surprise draws against Indonesia and the Philippines, who both sit far higher in the Fifa rankings. The case comes against a background of previous match-fixing scandals involving Laos that led the Asian Football Confederation to impose a life ban on Thipphonexay Inthavongsa in 2020 after finding him guilty of conspiring to manipulate the result of a 2017 international against Hong Kong.
The AFC was contacted for comment about the latest allegations and whether it was assisting the Lao authorities, but did not respond. The source, who has extensive experience inside Lao football, has alleged that match-fixing has been a long-running problem involving players and potentially officials. Players are particularly vulnerable because of their financial circumstances.
One player allegedly told him he had fixed three matches for “$10,000” each time. He claimed suspected fixing had damaged Lao football more broadly, with experienced players disappearing from the national team and younger players taking their places.
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