Naturalized foreign soldiers and their negative aspects
In many cases, foreign players are naturalized simply to serve the professional achievements of the team. “Love for Vietnamese football” - a catchphrase often used by many foreign players - is just a luxury concept.
Fabio dos Santos is the first foreign player to be naturalized as a Vietnamese citizen. After 6 years playing for Dong Tam Long An Club, in the 2007 season, Santos completed the procedures to become a naturalized citizen to guard the goal of the team of Mr. Vo Quoc Thang as a domestic player with a new name, Phan Van Santos.
In 2008, Santos was called up to the Vietnam national team by his former coach at Dong Tam Long An Club, Coach H. Calisto, in preparation for the 2008 AFF Cup. However, the Brazilian player failed to take advantage of the opportunity, played poorly and was eliminated from the Vietnam national team.
After Santos, the V.League began to see more naturalized players. According to statistics, the number of naturalized players in the V.League was up to 14 at one point, only less than the Singapore National Championship. These players include Huynh Kesley Alves (Binh Duong), Nguyen Rogerio (Da Nang), Nguyen Hoang Helio (SLNA), Le Tostao (Thanh Hoa), Doan Van Sakda (HA.GL), Dinh Hoang La, Dinh Hoang Max (Ninh Binh)...
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| Huynh Kesley Alves (right) is one of the few naturalized players who truly considers Vietnam as his second home after marrying a Vietnamese woman and building his career here. Photo: VSI |
Foreign players just "earn a living"?
In fact, the implementation of naturalization procedures for foreign players stems from the need to enhance the strength of football teams in the V.League. Due to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF)'s policy of limiting foreign players to protect domestic players, many football teams have "circumvented the law" by naturalizing foreign players.
When the purpose factor is put first, the players' ability to meet professional requirements and other issues to ensure they are true Vietnamese citizens are sometimes pushed to secondary levels. For example, there are rarely any foreign players among the more than a dozen cases of naturalization who can speak Vietnamese fluently.
Only a few people are truly attached to Vietnam as their second homeland, marrying a Vietnamese woman like the case of striker Huynh Kesley Alves.
The football world is no stranger to deals involving "bribes" that clubs must pay foreign players in exchange for the player accepting Vietnamese citizenship.
Of course, the clubs and players refused to reveal this unpleasant story. Everything only really came to light after goalkeeper Dinh Hoang La, due to a dispute with The Vissai Ninh Binh Club, revealed everything to the public in 2011.
According to the accusation of the Ukrainian-born player, the team of the owner Hoang Manh Truong paid 50,000 USD for him to accept Vietnamese citizenship. Many people believe that when naturalized, the player will also be paid a higher salary by the club than his foreign colleagues. After taking the case to court, Dinh Hoang La lost the argument and was forced to accept “giving up” on The Vissai Ninh Binh.
That does not mean that all foreign players who become Vietnamese citizens do so just to “earn a living”. Striker Huynh Kesley Alves is one of the few who can communicate in Vietnamese, and has married a Vietnamese woman. Some players truly consider Vietnam their second home.
The current VFF President, Mr. Le Hung Dung, when he was the Vice President in charge of VFF finance, was one of those who was cautious when calling up naturalized players to the national team.
“When Thailand and Malaysia call up naturalized players, Vietnam will also call,” said Mr. Dung when the issue of naturalized players was raised. At that time, Mr. Le Hung Dung also said that Huynh Kesley Alves was a case that could be considered.
If it were only for the sake of pure achievement, it is believed that not many people would accept calling a foreign player to the Vietnam national team, if that player is not truly worthy of representing the national flag, both in terms of expertise and heart.
| According to statistics, the number of naturalized players in V.League is sometimes up to 14 people, only less than the Singapore National Championship. These players include Huynh Kesley Alves (Binh Duong), Nguyen Rogerio (Da Nang), Nguyen Hoang Helio (SLNA), Le Tostao (Thanh Hoa), Doan Van Sakda (HA.GL)... |
According to Tienphong.vn
