Nam Dinh Club at risk of not being able to participate in V.League 2018

On December 28, 2017, the VPF survey team worked with Nam Dinh Club to inspect and evaluate the preparation and facilities of the clubs participating in the 2018 Professional Football Tournament.

As a result, the facilities of the Thien Truong Stadium team fully meet the conditions to participate in the 2018 national championship. Nam Dinh Club is also preparing in all aspects such as finance, procedures, and recruiting new personnel to participate in V.League 2018.

Before the new season, the team from Thanh Nam lost central defender Pham Van Nam when this player left the team to join FLC Thanh Hoa. Besides, they also welcomed a new player from PVF training center, midfielder Nguyen Trong Phu born in 1999.

According to the regulations of the V.League Organizing Committee, football teams in the Vietnam National Championship must be professional football joint stock companies. However, at present, the Thanh Nam football team is still under the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nam Dinh province and has not been equitized due to many unresolved difficulties.

Nam Dinh FC, despite winning the First Division last year, is at risk of not being able to participate in V.League 2018. Photo: Hai Thinh

Eager to see V.League teams recruit new players and gather to prepare for the new season, a loyal Nam Dinh fan, Bui Duc Lai, spoke up with a heartfelt letter on the Nam Dinh Football Fans Association Fanpage.

The original text is as follows: “Ladies and gentlemen, it is too late to be corporate compared to our competitors in the V.League, who have focused on recruiting all the good players.” Supporter Lai Do shared in his letter. “Because we have not yet converted to a corporate model, Nam Dinh football team cannot sign sponsorship contracts and therefore does not have money to recruit good players, both domestic and foreign.”

“Millions of Nam Dinh fans as well as the coaching staff and players, especially coach Nguyen Van Sy, a man who is very passionate about his hometown football, are facing this helplessness. The players are like sitting on a pile of fire worrying about their future, while fans are looking forward to the image of Nam Dinh people representing an entire province in the highest level of play in Vietnam.”

The fan considered the successor of “Drum Theory” said the problem lies with the provincial leadership. Mr. Duc Lai added: “The departments, organizations, people and fans all support the team wholeheartedly, only the provincial People's Committee Chairman Tran Le Doan disagrees.”

And in case the basic requirements of the V.League Organizing Committee are not met before the match schedule is finalized, it is likely that all efforts of coach Nguyen Van Sy and his team in achieving promotion last year will go down the drain./.

According to the investigation, the budget that the local government allocated to the Nam Dinh football team was made public at the People's Council meeting, which was 35 billion VND per season. This figure is completely sufficient to meet the minimum operating costs. The only urgent issue that the local leadership needs to address is to establish a professional football joint stock company.