Asiad Organizing Committee bans press from Olympic training ground Vietnam chooses
The Vietnam Olympic team's practice session on the afternoon of August 15 will not have reporters working after the latest announcement from the 2018 Asiad Organizing Committee.
Early this afternoon, the media officer of the Vietnam Olympic Team informed all reporters working in Cikarang, Indonesia about the new regulations. Accordingly, the press will not be allowed to work at the training ground.
Specifically, the reason given by the host side is that they cannot control the media when images of the unofficial training ground of the Organizing Committee were published in the Vietnamese press in recent days, creating negative public opinion against the host country. The Organizing Committee is trying very hard to create a successful Asiad.
According to the schedule of the same day, the Vietnam Olympic team was scheduled to practice at 10:30 am at the Brazillian Soccer School but was canceled at the last minute. Coach Park Hang-seo decided to postpone the practice to 3 pm at the same location.
The Brazillian Soccer School is located 17 km from the Vietnam Olympic Hotel and takes about 30 minutes to travel. This is a training ground chosen by the team, not a standard training ground arranged by the Asiad Organizing Committee.
Talk toZing.vnRight at the Harper Hotel where the Vietnam Olympic team is based, the team's media officer further explained: "If you practice at the Organizing Committee's field, you can work comfortably, but not at other fields."
Training ground of a local corporation selected by Vietnam Olympic Team. Photo:Viet Hung. |
The move of the 2018 Asiad Organizing Committee, specifically in men's football, was because previously, the Vietnam Olympic team chose a training ground of a corporation located in the area, but this ground was very bad.Zing.vnhas reflected the past few days.
The training ground of this corporation is not up to standard, it is only for workers to compete, not the ground arranged by the Organizing Committee. Therefore, saying that it is the Organizing Committee's mistake is completely incorrect. The training grounds of other teams are all acceptable.
Another reason why Vietnam Olympic team had to choose their own field is because the training fields arranged by the Organizing Committee are quite far from the team's hotel. As for the training fields in the military zone, they need permission from the government to enter.
However, it must be added that other teams such as the Japanese Olympic Team, Nepal Olympic Team and Pakistan Olympic Team all accept the difficulty of distance. Coach Park Hang-seo is concerned about the time it takes to travel, so he proactively searches for and chooses nearby stadiums that are not under the management of the Organizing Committee.
Head of delegation Duong Vu Lam explains why Vietnam Olympic team chose a nearby stadium. Photo:Viet Hung. |
Head of the delegation, Duong Vu Lam, affirmed: "The physical fitness of the Vietnamese Olympic team is the top priority, but coach Park Hang-seo does not put much emphasis on practicing tactics when entering the tournament because of the two-day/match density."
Thus, except for the 3-0 win over Olympic Pakistan yesterday (August 14), the Vietnam Olympic team has not practiced on a natural grass field. The team had one practice session on an empty lot near the hotel and one practice session on an artificial grass field.
And if there is a problem with the training at the Brazillian Soccer School this afternoon, it is unknown how long the problem with the training ground of the Vietnam Olympic team will last. On August 16 at 7:00 p.m., the Vietnam Olympic team will meet the Nepal Olympic team in the second match of Group D.