Vietnam’s V-League to carry on regardless of club defection: federation chairman

Vietnam’s top-flight V-League will continue irrespective of the number of competing football (soccer) teams, Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) chairman Le Hung Dung said in a recent interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Dung provided the direct confirmation after Dong Thap FC announced their withdrawal from the league, expected to start in January, because of financial problems.

He noted that Vietnam should also be prepared to turn the V-League into an arena for grassroots football to make it the basic foundation for future development of the sport in the worst-case scenario.

Apart from Dong Thap, who won the First Division last season and were promoted to the V-League, several other clubs are mired in financial difficulties since many companies are reticent to pour money into them thanks to the economic recession.

For a long time, football clubs in Vietnam have mainly lived on local government budgets and corporate sponsorship, not on advertisements on the field, ticket and jersey sales, and television rights like more developed football markets.

It is likely that more clubs will be unable to compete in the V-League due to similar economic troubles.

This is a chance for clubs to slow down and consolidate their base for the future, according to Dung.

The VFF chairman encouraged the managers of those clubs facing financial problems to accept a return to the grassroots level to strengthen their teams and build youth football, instead of making ends meet like at present.

This is not only a game of survival, but also future development, he added.

The K-League, the top football league in South Korea, once had only six teams playing but could ensure quality football, so it attracted a lot of fans to the stands, he pointed out.

In short, the V-League must not stop and will keep moving forward, he concluded.

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