Vietnam Football Federation maintains the penalty for U11 Song Lam Nghe An

Accordingly, the Vietnam Football Federation decided to maintain the disciplinary sentence against the U11 Song Lam Nghe An team and related individuals.

Previously, on September 9, 2024, the Disciplinary Board,Vietnam Football Federation(VFF) imposed a penalty, revoked the title, Cup, flag, medal and bonus of Song Lam Nghe An team at the National U11 Football Tournament Nestlé Milo Cup 2024. U11 SLNA was also fined 10,000,000 VND, banned from participating in Football tournaments organized by VFF for a period of 02 years due to registering and using players who are not of the correct age.

In addition, the Federation's Disciplinary Board also imposed penalties on Mr. Tran Quang Dung - Head of the U11 Song Lam Nghe An team and Mr. Nguyen Quang Tho - Head coach of the U11 Song Lam Nghe An team.

On September 11, 2024, Song Lam Nghe An Football Club and related individuals submitted a complaint to the Disciplinary Board, Vietnam Football Federation with the following content: During the disciplinary process of the Disciplinary Board, Vietnam Football Federation, the Club, the Head of Delegation and the Head Coach were not allowed to access the working sessions of the Disciplinary Board, were not allowed to participate in the verification and have opinions to explain related issues.

Player Bui Van Bao's profile is correct and complete according to the regulations of the tournament and has been checked and verified by the tournament Organizing Committee to be eligible to participate in the tournament. Specifically, Bui Van Bao has a complete set of original documents including: Original birth certificate of player Bui Van Bao; ID card of player Bui Van Bao; Confirmation of residence information from Dau Lieu Ward Police, Hong Linh Town about the residence of player Bui Van Bao; Confirmation of birth registration information No. 24/PTP of Hong Linh Town People's Committee dated July 19, 2024; Notice of personal identification number, citizen information in the National Population Database; Confirmation of Dau Lien Ward People's Committee dated August 7, 2023 on birth registration; Confirmation No. 156/UBND-VP of Dau Lien Ward People's Committee Office dated September 11, 2024 confirming information related to birth certificate No. 45, right No. 01/2013; The above documents and certificates all show: player Bui Van Bao was born on February 8, 2013.

"Song Lam Nghe An Football Club, the Head of the Delegation and the Head Coach are all innocent in the above incident" and requested "the Disciplinary Board, Vietnam Football Federation to withdraw and cancel the Disciplinary Decision of the U11 team and related individuals".

Along with this complaint, Song Lam Nghe An Club also provided a photo of the original birth certificate and ID card of player Bui Van Bao; confirmation of residence information from the Dau Lieu Ward Police; confirmation of birth registration information from the Hong Linh Town People's Committee; Notification of personal identification number and citizen information in the population database; confirmation of the Dau Lieu Ward People's Committee, Hong Linh Town on birth certificate registration; Confirmation of the Dau Lieu Ward People's Committee Office... The above documents and certificates all show that player Bui Van Bao was born on February 8, 2013.

In the process of analyzing the incident, The Complaints Resolution Board, Vietnam Football Federation found that:Player Bui Van Bao's date of birth February 8, 2013 is in accordance with the regulations and rules of the National U11 Football Tournament. Based on the registration file of Song Lam Nghe An Club, the Tournament Organizing Committee has approved player Bui Van Bao to participate in the National U11 Football Tournament Nestlé Milo Cup 2024....

However, related documents such as: Records, archives, and Registration Book at Dau Lieu Primary and Secondary School record information about student Bui Van Bao, born on February 8, 2010, permanent residence at Residential Group 8, Dau Lieu Ward, Hong Linh Town, Ha Tinh Province.

The demographic records kept at the Hong Linh Town Police Department's residence archives, Ha Tinh Province, of the family of Mr. Bui Van Chinh and Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam include a number of documents including: A copy of the birth certificate with a red seal, a demographic declaration signed by Bui Van Chinh, containing information about citizen Bui Van Bao born on February 8, 2010.

"The documents in the complaint settlement file are highly authentic between the registration file of Song Lam Nghe An Club and the verification results of the tournament organizing committee, showing that there is a difference in the age of player Bui Van Bao participating in the 2024 National U11 Football Tournament. The documents provided about player Bui Van Bao of the Song Lam Nghe An U11 team show that there is age fraud, that is, he was born on February 8, 2010, not February 8, 2013, which is the basis and has been verified," the decision of the Complaint Settlement Board, Vietnam Football Federation stated.

Regarding the content of the complaint, the Club, the Head of the Delegation and the Head Coach were not allowed to access the working sessions of the Disciplinary Board, were not allowed to participate in the verification and explanation of related issues. The Complaint Resolution Board said: Based on the Tournament Charter and the Disciplinary Regulations of the VFF, the Disciplinary Board has the authority to handle disciplinary actions. Meeting and directly questioning the subject of disciplinary consideration and related parties is within the authority of the Disciplinary Board, not a mandatory obligation of the Disciplinary Board.

Regarding the complaint: "The club, the head of the delegation and the head coach are not at fault in the above incident; there is no interference in the legal documents and private life of player Bui Van Bao", the Complaint Board said, according to the tournament regulations: During the participation in the tournament, the team with a player discovered to have cheated on his age will be disqualified from the tournament. The results of the matches between the teams and this team will be canceled. The team, coach, and team leaders will have to receive disciplinary action from the Vietnam Football Federation". Thus, the responsibility for discipline belongs to the unit that submitted the registration documents to participate in the tournament for the player to compete...