Empty stands and a square ball!

That was the joy but not the complete joy of the fans and although the tournament still reached the final destination, the sparse, quiet rows of seats in the empty stands still left many things to say about enjoying this king sport!

Those empty stands, for V. League, remind us of the unpleasant story of the varying degrees of disciplinary action against home teams, mostly caused by overzealous fans.

Vinh Stadium was once “tasted” the disciplinary punishment of being suspended for 3 matches due to a scuffle with Hai Phong fans in May 2008. It was Lach Tray Stadium’s turn to have this “honor” in the match against the visiting team Quang Nam in March 2017 and the troublemakers were still Hai Phong fans, not to mention that this group has caused trouble many times at other stadiums. Most recently, it was Hang Day Stadium but due to the error of shooting flares by the visiting team Nam Dinh fans in September 2019…

This means that, to a greater or lesser extent, the situation of football teams playing at home without spectators due to disciplinary action has happened before. The teams have "experienced" this situation and certainly will not be "overwhelmed" when they can come here to the stadium and only see... the opposing team and the task force!

Spectators are not allowed to enter the stadium in round 1 of V-League 2020. Photo: vietnamnet.vn

From now on, fans will mainly be able to watch their favorite players compete through live television and radio channels, online, and via social networks, which is a rare and common thing in football during the Covid-19 era. They will hear very clearly and specifically the sounds of the coaches' and players' instructions on the field - something that can never be heard when the field is full of spectators.

The joy of the fans after their team scores a goal will be heard from every person, every house in front of televisions, computers, smartphones... There will be... there will be many more strange things before, during and after each match, not only in each national tournament but also in the continent and the world!

Ho Chi Minh City Club defeated Quang Nam 3-1 at Tam Ky Stadium without spectators in round 1 of V League 2020. Photo: thethao.ai

The question is how will the V.League 2020 competition plan be discussed and “decided”? The difficulty is that the tournament has only gone through 2 rounds, so the long road ahead must be considered so as not to interfere with the schedules of the teams and the next tournament.

Furthermore, if the match is played in an empty stadium (most likely), and there is a clause of "no relegation", then it will be considered just a friendly or training tournament, just to get it over with.

At that time, the tournament will be a total failure for sponsors, managers, players and especially fans, because it is no longer an attractive competition of football talents, the round ball that contains many surprises will just be... a square ball!

The ideal couple "players - spectators" in each tournament seem to never be separated, but sometimes they have to accept "cruel solutions" when there is no other way, to save the situation.

Football fans will certainly find their own “solutions” to come to the “field” in the most direct and exciting way, and hope that science and technology will contribute to making this “game” more interesting and new...