VFF's 8th Congress: A battle without compromise?
(Baonghean.vn) - It seemed that after the victory of the Vietnam U23 team at the 2018 AFC U23 Championship, those involved in football would come closer together, all for the sake of national pride. But ultimately, things are happening the opposite way.
As usual, the period leading up to the VFF Congress is always extremely tense and complicated regarding personnel matters. The media hardly mentions the report or development strategy for the term, focusing instead on the presidential nomination. However, while in the past people were only interested in who would be the VFF president, now things are much more complicated.
4-4-1-1 formation
According to the list of candidates finalized by the VFF Executive Committee on March 16th, there are four candidates for the position of VFF President: Standing Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan, former Vice Chairman of the VPF Board of Directors Nguyen Cong Khe, Director of the My Dinh National Sports Complex Can Van Nghia, and former Rector of the University of Sports and Physical Education 2 (Ho Chi Minh City) Le Quy Phuong.
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| Mr. Duc (left) is vehemently protesting the unreasonable and imposed regulations of the personnel subcommittee headed by VFF President Le Hung Dung. Photo: VFF |
The position of Vice President in charge of communications and external relations had the most candidates, with five nominees: Mr. Le Thanh Trung (Deputy General Director of HDBank), current Vice President of VFF Mr. Nguyen Xuan Gu, Mr. Gu's predecessor Mr. Nguyen Lan Trung, Mr. Cao Van Chong (Becamex Binh Duong), and Editor-in-Chief of Bóng đá newspaper Mr. Nguyen Van Phu. Mr. Le Thanh Trung recently announced his withdrawal from the race, leaving only four candidates.
The candidates for Vice President of Finance are Mr. Tran Anh Tu and for Vice President of Professional Affairs is Mr. Duong Vu Lam. The election lineup is 4-4-1-1.
It's not difficult to see that the Personnel Subcommittee, chaired by Mr. Le Hung Dung - President of the VFF, supports the option of Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan as President of the VFF for the eighth term, and it's possible that Mr. Cao Xuan Chong will be in charge of media relations.
Meanwhile, Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc introduced former Vice Chairman of the VPF Board of Directors Nguyen Cong Khe to replace Mr. Le Hung Dung, and sought support from former Vice Chairman of the VFF Nguyen Xuan Gu. He particularly strongly opposed the candidate for Vice Chairman of Finance, Mr. Tran Anh Tu.
According to bầu Đức, bầu Tú holding so many important positions would harm Vietnamese football; therefore, if bầu Tú is elected for the eighth term, bầu Đức will withdraw from football.
The tip of the iceberg
Despite announcing his resignation as Vice President of Finance of the VFF, Mr. Duc vehemently criticized Mr. Tran Anh Tu for acting alone, even though the HAGL boss did the same during the 7th term. Furthermore, despite being nominated like Mr. Duc, he was excluded from the list of candidates for the VFF Executive Committee by the VFF Personnel Subcommittee. It's strange; there must be some hidden reason.
Furthermore, the owner of Hoang Anh Gia Lai football team also directed his criticism towards the VFF, claiming that the candidacy process was not transparent, and that the requirement for candidates to have a university degree was merely a way to exclude him.
Everyone knows that within the VFF, Mr. Duc is the only one who has ventured into both business and football. There's a significant rift between Mr. Duc and Mr. Le Hung Dung, and before that, Mr. Thang of Gach also parted ways with football.
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| Will bầu Đức "hang up his arms" when his proposals are ignored? Photo: AT |
To date, with the exception of the Athletics Federation, where a university degree is explicitly stated as a criterion for membership in the Executive Committee, the Badminton Federation, Shooting Federation, and the Paralympic Association do not include academic qualifications as a criterion for leadership. Instead, they select leaders based on general standards, targeting specific individuals who are dedicated, suitable, and possess the necessary qualifications, abilities, and resources to contribute.
Upon closer examination, the regulations of the Personnel Subcommittee even contradict and violate the VFF's own Statutes. How strange!
At the regular press conference of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training on March 22, Deputy Director General Tran Duc Phan stated that the personnel preparation was handled by the previous term, and this work is still ongoing and will be reported to the competent authorities for approval. The General Department of Sports and Physical Training will not interfere but will let the Congress decide, meaning the battle will be uncompromising.
Mr. Duc is a passionate supporter of Vietnamese football. He was "heartbroken" by the missed opportunity to win the SEA Games 29 gold medal, but in return, this "architect" made a significant contribution to bringing home the silver medal at the U23 Asian Championship.
It's unclear whether the internal conflict between Chairman Duc and the VFF will cause HAGL to "disappear" as he claimed, but players Tuan Anh, Xuan Truong, and their teammates have the right to demand, "Have you finished fighting, so we can play football again?"
If it's not finished yet, perhaps the congress should be postponed to finalize the personnel matters first, instead of leaving it like this; people will laugh at us!
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