What is the reason why V.League is not delayed due to the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic?

Impact on national teams

If the V.League 2020 takes place later, the preparation for the Vietnam national team to participate in tournaments this year will be affected. The 3 tournaments that Vietnam Football will participate in at the team level this year include the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers (3 matches with Malaysia on March 31, Indonesia on June 4 and UAE on June 9), the AFF Cup (from November 23 to December 31) and the AFC U19 Championship.

V.League is still taking place to ensure the national team has the best preparation for tournaments this year. Photo: VPF

So if the tournament takes place later, there will be 2 options proposed. The first is to shorten the break between rounds of V.League 2020 so that the Vietnam National Team has more time to prepare for AFF at the end of the year, but it will increase the possibility of injuries and hardship for players whose clubs participate in other tournaments such as AFC Cup, National Cup, ...

Option 2 is that the rounds will still take place as usual. Thus, the time to prepare and calculate the peak performance of players for tournaments at the team level will not be much. Both of these options will more or less affect the physical strength and performance of the players in the campaign to defend the Southeast Asian championship at the end of the year.

The AFC U19 Championship will take place at the end of October this year, so the V.League 2 tournament must also take place next weekend. Currently, in the second highest tournament of Vietnamese football, there are quite a few young players from U18 to U22 participating. The early organization of V.League 2 will also help "White Wizard" Philippe Troussier have good choices and have more time to prepare for the continental tournament. This year's U19 players are being carefully invested in and are also expected to help Vietnam participate in the World Cup for the first time in 2026.

The clubs are ready

Before the Corona epidemic broke out and became more complicated than a month ago, almost all clubs had fully prepared their domestic forces, stadiums and sponsors. The tournament taking place later not only affected but also gave the teams more time to choose foreign players.

At present, for the teams participating in the current V.League, ticket sales are not the largest source of revenue, so the fact that matches are still held without spectators does not affect the financial situation of the clubs too much.

Ensuring the safety and health of the coaching staff, players and the media remains the top priority. Photo: VPF

After the recent meeting of the Organizing Committee of the V.League Organizing Committee, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tu (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company - VPF) said: "Given the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic, organizing matches without spectators is a force majeure to ensure two goals: organizing the tournament as planned, limiting the risk of spreading the epidemic, protecting the health of the players, the task force and the spectators themselves."

In addition, the tournament still takes place without opening ticket sales, helping tens of thousands of domestic football fans stay at home to watch their team compete, limiting going out every weekend will more or less reduce the risk of spreading and outbreak of the disease.

Regional tournaments continue to be postponed.

The J-League Organizing Committee has decided to postpone matches in J-League 1 and J-League 2 as well as tournaments at different levels until mid-March (specifically March 15) due to the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Playing without spectators, the professional quality of the matches in round 1 - V.League 2020 did not decrease. Photo: VPF

The Korea Football Association (KFA) and the organizers of professional tournaments in the land of Kim Chi held a meeting on February 24 to decide to postpone all matches in the Korean professional football system, until the Covid-19 epidemic caused by the new strain of Corona virus is completely controlled.

Meanwhile, the Football Association of Thailand recently announced that the Thai-League will be postponed until April 18 due to the negative developments of the Covid-19 epidemic.