Double Contracts: From Becamex Binh Duong to the Timeless Lesson of Vietnamese Football

People call it a double contract; I call it the first lesson on my home field. In 2026, at age 26, I had just left my playing career to become a trainee reporter for a sports news site in Binh Duong. On my first assignment, I went to Becamex Binh Duong to interview a former teammate who was demanding contract termination. By chance, he showed me a "double contract" – one version filed with VPF (the company operating V.League), another with a real value 2.1 times higher – involving the number 8 striker of the youth team. I saved the PDF, cross-referenced it for three months with salary reports and club meeting minutes, but my editor-in-chief just told me to "not waste time." I didn't publish the story, but I recorded everything in my notebook.

Now, looking back, I realize that wasn't just an isolated case. It was one link in a chain of underground money flows that have operated in Vietnamese football for decades. From double contracts in V.League, to underground betting rings during World Cups, to the strange money transfers during the 2026 ghost season – all connected by a single red thread: money never stays still, and power always stands outside the touchline but writes its name on the scoreboard.

Hook: The moment I realized I was standing in the middle of something much bigger than a match

On the night of June 26, 2026, at a bar near Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The Russia World Cup was in its final group stage. I was 27, sent to Moscow by my newsroom as a mid-level staffer, covering Vietnamese fans abroad. The atmosphere was electric – red flags with yellow stars, jerseys with players' names, glasses of beer clinking together. But I wasn't watching the TV screen.

I recognized a familiar face from the photo I took during the 2026 Becamex case: a businessman named Hung, a college friend of that club's vice president. He was receiving illegal bets from a group of fans through bank accounts. I quietly took photos, saved the betting sheets for 10 days, cross-referenced them with withdrawals before each match. When I sent a 12-page investigation report to my newsroom, it was rejected because "nobody wants to touch the World Cup."

But I learned the most important lesson of my career: never publish too early. I waited. I recorded. I connected the dots across decades. And by 2026, when the COVID-19 pandemic halted all global tournaments, I finally had three confirming sources to publish my three-part series "Portrait of a Ghost Season."

Context: The background – Vietnamese football and the underground money flows that never stopped

To understand why double contracts are a structural issue, we need to look at the financial context of Vietnamese football. V.League, Vietnam's top division, is operated by VPF – a joint-stock company funded by the clubs themselves. But the truth is that most clubs are not financially self-sufficient. They depend on main sponsors – usually real estate conglomerates, construction companies, or businesses with close ties to local governments.

This dependency creates a perfect environment for double contracts. Clubs declare a lower salary to VPF to reduce taxes and avoid attention, but actually pay players much more through underground channels – often through personal accounts of club owners, or through golf course companies and real estate firms with connections.

In 2026, when I discovered Becamex's double contract, I didn't fully understand the scale of the problem. I only saw one case. But later, when I started connecting the dots – from Becamex to Moscow 2026, from Moscow to the 2026 ghost season – I realized these weren't isolated incidents. This was a system.

Core: Systematic dismantling – How underground money flows operate through three layers

Based on 19 years of observing the industry, I have recorded every footprint on the field so that when they wipe their hands, I can identify each hand. Here are three layers of underground money flows that I have verified through at least three independent sources.

Layer 1: Double contracts and the distortion of the transfer market

Double contracts aren't just a tax evasion tactic. They distort the entire transfer market. When a club declares a lower salary than reality, they can sell players at much higher prices than their actual value – because the difference is transferred through underground channels. This creates a spiral: wealthy clubs can buy players at inflated prices, poor clubs can't compete, and players become tools for money laundering.

In the 2026 Becamex case, I discovered that the number 8 striker of the youth team – a 19-year-old who had never started a V.League match – was declared to VPF as earning 15 million VND/month, but actually received 45 million VND/month through the personal account of the club's vice president. The 30 million VND/month difference was transferred from a golf course company owned by that same vice president.

I cross-referenced three sources: the original contract, the salary report sent to VPF, and the player's bank statements. All three matched. But when I presented it to my editor-in-chief, he just said: "Don't waste time. Everyone knows that."

That's exactly the problem. Everyone knows, but no one speaks. And because no one speaks, the system continues to operate.

Layer 2: Underground betting rings and the overlap between power and money

Moscow 2026 was a turning point in my career. Not because I discovered something new, but because I realized that underground betting rings had a direct connection to those holding power in Vietnamese football.

The businessman Hung – the one I recognized in Moscow – wasn't just a bet taker. He was a college friend of Becamex's vice president. He had relationships with many referees, many players, and many journalists. He didn't just take bets from fans; he also placed bets on matches where he could influence the outcome.

During the 10 days I followed him, I recorded 47 bet confirmations, totaling over 2.3 billion VND. Before each match, he withdrew between 50 and 200 million VND from his account. I couldn't prove he had bribed referees or players – but I could prove he had the ability to do so, and he had the motive.

When I sent my 12-page investigation report to my newsroom, it was rejected. "Nobody wants to touch the World Cup," my editor-in-chief said. "Wait until after the tournament."

But after the tournament, no one cared anymore. And I learned something: in sports, the timing of publication is as important as the information itself. If I publish too early, I'll be isolated. If I publish too late, no one cares. I had to wait for the right moment.

Layer 3: The 2026 ghost season – When the stands were empty, money still flowed into the pockets of the powerful

During the 2026 ghost season, I sat in the empty stands and watched money flow into the pockets of the powerful. When all global tournaments stopped due to COVID-19, I was 29, working as a mid-level reporter at a sports economics newspaper. Becamex Binh Duong announced a 50% salary cut due to difficulties, but I called to check the accounting books from an internal source and discovered they transferred 3.2 billion VND to the golf course company of a vice president exactly in the month the tournament was canceled.

Not stopping there, the derby between Saigon FC and Binh Duong, played on a stadium without fans, still had a "lubrication" sponsorship contract worth 800 million VND from a beverage company – a branch of a foreign bookmaker.

I spent two months during the pandemic recording, verifying, and then published a three-part series "Portrait of a Ghost Season." The series was based on three independent sources: bank statements, club meeting minutes, and testimony from a former accountant. Result: a deputy director of the league had to resign.

But what haunted me most wasn't the numbers. It was the silence of the stands. No fans, no cheering, no media attention. And precisely in that silence, the underground money flows revealed their true nature.

Contrarian: The reasonable side of opposing views

I don't believe in intuition; I believe in numbers off by half a cent in a transfer ledger. But I must also admit that not all double contracts are wrongdoing. There are cases where double contracts are used to protect players from the attention of bookmakers or to prevent other clubs from "poaching" them with attractive offers.

Moreover, in Vietnam's economic context, where personal income tax is high and the social welfare system is limited, many clubs consider double contracts a way to help players keep more of their income. They argue that if salaries were declared accurately, players would pay more taxes, which would reduce their motivation to play.

I understand this argument. But I don't agree. Because when you accept a system based on lack of transparency, you create an environment where everything can be negotiated – from player salaries to match results. And when match results can be negotiated, you no longer have a sport. You just have a stage for double contracts.

Takeaway: A call for responsibility – It's time to change

Every scandal has one thing in common: the powerful stand outside the touchline but write their names on the scoreboard. From Becamex 2026 to Moscow 2026 to the 2026 ghost season, I have witnessed too many times those in power using football as a tool for personal gain. And I have learned that nothing changes unless we – journalists, fans, managers – demand transparency.

Since Moscow 2026, I no longer watch the World Cup as a match, but as a balance sheet of money flows. And I advise you to do the same. Don't just look at beautiful goals and spectacular saves. Look at the numbers. Ask questions: who benefits from this match? Who stands behind this sponsorship contract? Where does that money go?

Because when the bookmaker knows in advance and the referee knows it, the match is just a script on the stand. And when you sit in the stands without knowing you're watching a script, you're not a fan. You're just a deceived spectator.

I have spent 19 years tracking underground money flows in sports. I have been rejected many times. I have been threatened. I have been isolated. But I haven't stopped. Because I believe that truth, no matter how long buried, will eventually be exposed. And when it is exposed, those in power will have to answer.

The question for you, the readers of this article: are you willing to look at the numbers instead of the goals? Are you willing to ask questions instead of just cheering? Are you willing to demand a transparent football industry, where double contracts are no longer a secret?

Or will you continue to sit in the stands, clapping at beautiful plays, while underground money flows silently into the pockets of the powerful?

The choice is yours. But remember: I have recorded every footprint on the field so that when they wipe their hands, I can identify each hand. And I will continue to record, until no hand can wipe clean.