Khanh Hoa Club players ready to strike due to unpaid wages; Premier League defender naturalized as Indonesian, eager to play for Vietnam

Khanh Hoa Club players ready to strike due to unpaid wages

Before round 5 of V-League 2023-2024, many Khanh Hoa Club players were upset because they had not received their salaries and bonuses as agreed and might not play in the match against Becamex Binh Duong on December 10.

After winning promotion to play in the V-League at the end of the 2022 season, Khanh Hoa Club was awarded a bonus of 2 billion VND by the sponsor. However, after a long wait, the players of the "coastal city" team have not yet received the bonus, signing-on fee and September salary from the old sponsor (Cam Ranh International Real Estate Joint Stock Company).

Because of this, Khanh Hoa Club had to say goodbye to 14 players and faced the risk of disbanding and quitting competition before the 2023-2024 V-League season.

But at the "last minute", the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee handed the team over to Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Company to take over and sponsor with a budget of 35 billion VND to continue participating in the highest level tournaments in Vietnam.

On the afternoon of December 7, representatives of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Khanh Hoa province had a working session with members of the Khanh Hoa Club to find a solution to resolve the debt of the old sponsor and the new sponsor, Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Company.

Also in this internal meeting, the leader of the Khanh Hoa Province Sports Department said that nearly 26 billion VND had been disbursed to the old sponsor in the past, but only a few months' salary was paid to the entire team, not the signing bonus as promised.

Nam Dinh won a hat-trick of October awards

Nam Dinh Club is the best team after the first 4 rounds of V-League 2023/2024. The home team at Thien Truong Stadium won all 4 matches, earning 12 absolute points and taking the top spot in the rankings, 4 points ahead of the second-placed team Thanh Hoa.

According to the results of the voting for the best awards in October, Nam Dinh Club won the Best Club award. Coach Vu Hong Viet was also voted the Best Coach, while striker Rafaelson won the Best Player award in October. The only October award that did not belong to members ofNam Dinh ClubThe most beautiful goal belongs to Pham Tuan Hai of Hanoi FC (in the first round make-up match against Binh Duong Club).

Currently, Nam Dinh Club is actively preparing for the match against Hanoi Police Club in round 5 of V-League 2023/2024 taking place on December 9. Coach Vu Hong Viet's team is determined to maintain their winning streak to maintain the top position in the table.

Premier League defender naturalized as Indonesian, eager to play for Vietnam

Justin Hubner - a 20-year-old Dutch-born centre-back currently playing for Wolves in the English Premier League - has just successfully naturalized and is ready to join the Indonesian national team.

"I want to immediately play for the national team and can't wait to go to Qatar to compete with Japan, Vietnam and other teams participating in the Asian Cup. I will give my all to win every match and help the Indonesian team achieve many achievements," Justin Hubner shared after successfully naturalizing as an Indonesian citizen.

With successful naturalization, Hubner is eligible to play for the Indonesian national team at the Asian Cup in January next year.

Coincidentally, on the same day, December 6, Indonesia announced the successful naturalization of Justin Hubner, while goalkeeper Filip Nguyen also announced that he had Vietnamese nationality, eligible to play for the national team.

Vietnam and Indonesia will meet in the group stage of the Asian Cup (January 2024) and the two legs of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers (March 2024). The presence of naturalized players who have grown up in European training centers will add more appeal to the confrontation, which has a lot of fate between the two teams.

Barca welcomes quality rookie to replace Lewandowski

Striker Vitor Roque is set to join Barcelona in January 2024. Xavi's side reached an agreement to sign Roque from Athletico in July for 40 million euros plus 21 million euros in add-ons, on a seven-year contract.

On their homepage, Athletico posted a farewell message to Roque at the weekend: "Last performance in front of our fans. The match against Santos will be Vitor Roque's last at the Ligga Arena before going to Europe."

This gives Barca much-needed depth for striker Robert Lewandowski, who is 36 years old this year.

A product of the Cruzeiro Academy where former player Ronaldo Nazario grew up, Roque joined Athletico in early 2022 and has scored 28 goals in 80 appearances, helping them reach the Copa Libertadores final last year.

Most recently, Joao Felix shone by scoring against his former team, helping Barca defeat tough opponent Atletico Madrid 1-0 in round 15 of La Liga, early morning of December 4./.