Only 2 clubs agree to postpone V-League until 2022; Vietnam cannot host AFF Cup 2020
(Baonghean.vn) - Quang Ninh and Binh Dinh agreed to the proposal to postpone V-League, while the majority rejected the plan proposed by VPF; the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) is having a hard time choosing a country in the region to host the AFF Cup 2020.
Only 2 clubs agree to postpone V-League until 2022
Yesterday (July 23) was the deadline for 14 clubs to respond to VPF about the proposal to postpone V-League. Only 2 clubs agreed to the above proposal: Quang Ninh and Binh Dinh. The 2 clubs that did not respond were Viettel and Ho Chi Minh City. VPF considered this as "Agreement" because it was clearly stated at the end of the official dispatch sent to the clubs on July 19.
HAGL is playing both ways. The mountain town team agrees to wait until February 2022 to continue playing but is ready to follow the majority decision. Meanwhile, Hanoi wants the tournament to end completely but does not agree with waiting until February 2022. The team that has won the V-League 5 times has asked VPF to continue researching, evaluating, and listening to the opinions of the teams to come up with a more suitable match schedule.
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| HAGL (in white) is leading the V-League with 29 points after 12 matches. Photo: Lam Thoa |
The eight teams that disagreed with VPF’s proposal were Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Binh Duong, Da Nang, Ha Tinh, Hai Phong, Saigon and SLNA. In addition to opposing VPF’s idea, they also made some suggestions to end the tournament.
Hai Phong wants to stop relegation and only organize one championship match between the two leading teams, HAGL and Viettel. Binh Duong and Saigon propose to stop the tournament and award the championship to HAGL, the leading team with 29 points after 12 rounds - 3 points more than the second-placed Viettel. Nam Dinh wants to organize a meeting of the teams, collect opinions and vote.
Vietnam cannot host AFF Cup 2020
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the biggest football tournament in the region had to be postponed from 2020 to 2021, but is facing the risk of not finding a centralized venue to hold the competition. Please note that since the AFF Cup 2018, the AFF has changed the competition format, with teams divided into 2 groups, playing home and away, selecting the top 2 teams in each group to enter the semi-finals and also playing home and away.
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| Coach Park Hang-seo considers successfully defending the AFF Cup an important task for the Vietnamese team. |
Recently, Mr. Khiev Sameth - President of AFF said that the draw ceremony for AFF Cup 2020 is expected to take place on August 10 and from now until then, AFF will try to come up with reasonable solutions to solve the problem related to the tournament's hosting location. AFF also hopes to announce the host country of AFF Cup 2020 by the end of July.
Through communication channels, VFF has also been asked whether Vietnam can host 2 groups. However, VFF cannot have an immediate answer, and if there is, the possibility of saying "no" is very high. A few months ago, VFF had to respond to the Asian Football Confederation about Vietnam's request not to continue hosting the 2022 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers. According to the original plan, VFF intended to choose Hanoi as the venue for the AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, but due to the increasing epidemic, VFF had to cancel the above plan (currently this qualifier is hosted by Taiwan from October 23 to 31). Vietnam also had to cancel the plan to host the 31st SEA Games at the end of this year (waiting for the Government to make a final decision on whether to postpone the 31st SEA Games to 2022 or not). For these reasons, Vietnam is almost certainly unable to host the 2020 AFF Cup (including 1 group).It is not impossible that for the first time in the history of the AFF Cup, this tournament will have to be held outside of Southeast Asia. If no country in the region is qualified to host, the AFF must consider the option of renting a stadium in an Asian country to organize the AFF Cup 2020.
Coach Park sent a letter of thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and VFF
The Korean coach sent his thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) after completing his family affairs. Mr. Park's father-in-law passed away on July 9 in Busan city. Mr. Park wrote: "Our family is deeply moved by the sharing and sympathy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Football Federation."
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| Coach Park Hang-seo will return to Vietnam in the next few days. Photo: Quang Thinh |
"This is invaluable to our family during this difficult time. I am deeply grateful for your understanding and would like to sincerely thank you...", the letter reads.
Newsis reported that the 1957-born coach returned to Sancheong County (Gyeongsang Province) on July 13. After that, the 64-year-old strategist visited the Sancheong County office.
Korean media reported that Mr. Park is expected to return to Vietnam at the end of July after 10 days in Korea. This time, he will focus on the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup with the Vietnamese team.
