Lee Nguyen wears Ho Chi Minh City shirt; Coach Park's The Best vote does not include Ronaldo

The leaders of Ho Chi Minh City Club revealed on the morning of December 18 that they had reached an agreement with Lee Nguyen afterlong-term pursuitLee will play as a domestic player because he has had Vietnamese nationality since 2011. It is expected that on December 28, he will fly back to Vietnam, then quarantine and join his teammates before the V-League 2021 kicks off on January 16.

Lee Nguyen was born in 1986 and played for HAGL and Binh Duong from 2009 to 2011. He then returned to the US to play for the New England Revolution from 2012 to 2018, playing 191 matches and scoring 51 goals. During this period, he was called up to the US national team.

Returning to V-League, Lee Nguyen (right) will have the opportunity to face his old coach Kiatisuk - who has also recently returned to lead HAGL. Photo: Duc Dong.

In the 2018-2019 season, Lee played for Los Angeles FC, played 58 matches, and scored 3 goals. He then joined Inter Miami, a club owned by David Beckham.

Coach Park's The Best vote does not include Ronaldo

In their roles as coach and captain of the Vietnam national team, Mr. Park Hang-seo and Que Ngoc Hai were selected for the FIFA The Best award - Best Men's Player.

Coach Park Hang-seo gave the first place, which also brought the most points, to Kylian Mbappe, behind French striker Lionel Messi. The third place in Coach Park's vote belonged to Neymar.

Coach Park did not vote for either Lewandowski or Ronaldo. Photo: Minh Chien.

Meanwhile, Que Ngoc Hai voted for Robert Lewandowski in first place. In second and third place, the central defender of Viettel Club voted for Sergio Ramos and Kevin De Bruyne.

Russia banned from Tokyo Olympics and 2022 World Cup

On December 17, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that Russian athletes are not allowed to participate in international competitions until December 16, 2022.

The CAS sentence is two years less than the sentence given by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to Russian sports last year. Thus, Russian sports will not be able to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics (scheduled to take place in 2021), the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. However, the Russian football team will still be able to participate in the Euro finals next year, because this is a continental tournament.

CAS affirmed that the reduced sentence was not related to the nature of the illegal acts of Russian officials and athletes.

Russian sports will be absent from many major international events in the next two years. Photo: LA Times.

"There are clear consequences that reflect the nature and seriousness of Russia's non-compliance," the CAS ruling said. "This ruling aims to ensure the integrity of sport in the face of doping. It is considered fair and necessary to create a cultural change and encourage the next generation of Russian athletes to compete cleanly."