The "escapes" of Vietnamese football

Vietnamese football has been noisy in recent days with the threats to quit football by two famous bosses Doan Nguyen Duc and Vo Quoc Thang.

Bricks and Wood were once rivals, but are now in a relationship where a decision, when made, could have many consequences for football.

What will happen to HAGL Club players when Mr. Duc leaves the tournament?

Long An and HAGL have not been a force in the domestic football league for many years now. The Brick-Wood derbies have therefore lost their fire as before. There are many reasons for this situation, but perhaps the financial situation of the owners is a key factor.

However, few people can deny the influence of Mr. Thang or Mr. Duc on the public and fans. Therefore, the fact that both bosses simultaneously threatened to leave football makes many people think, although in fact, Vietnamese football has witnessed many farewells in history.

The most talked about is Xuan Thanh Sai Gon’s escape from football in 2013. In the final match of the season against Kien Giang, because they were sure of staying in the league, Mr. Thuy’s team used a squad of many young players, and left the pillars on the coaching bench. Few people thought that this would be the beginning of a departure that followed.

The Disciplinary Board of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), based on the report of the tournament's Organizing Committee and the way the VPF Ethics Board raised the issue at that time, decided to deduct points from Xuan Thanh Saigon.

Unconvinced, Mr. Thuy announced his withdrawal from football, disbanding the team with resentment towards VFF, VPF and the inability to compete with Mr. Hien's teams.

Insiders talked a lot about the bad economic situation of Xuan Thanh Saigon at that time, but many people still regret why a team that spent a lot of money on buying players and building a brand, ended up with the above result.

Before Xuan Thanh Sai Gon, Hoa Phat Ha Noi was another case of leaving football due to helplessness with the internal problems of the National Championship. Mr. Tran Dinh Long is currently among the richest people in Vietnam on the stock market, but there is still no sign of returning to football even though many people are recommending him to become the President of VFF.

The decision to part ways with Hoa Phat was made unexpectedly but decisively and strongly. There have been very few statements like the ones made by Mr. Duc or Mr. Thang recently, but Hoa Phat's withdrawal is still one of the most regrettable farewells.

Or in 2014, The Vissai Ninh Binh of Mr. Hoang Manh Truong also accepted to quit football, even though before that, each year they had to spend hundreds of billions of dong.

Many people say that the bosses are all experienced businessmen, but when it comes to football, they are “novices”. The sad thing is that in the process of investing in football, they rarely receive advice or suggestions to “correct mistakes”, gradually changing in a positive direction. Instead, there are criticisms, slanders and denigrations every day in the newspapers.

Football has become an unhappy game for bosses, even though it is still an effective brand promotion channel for businesses.

For whatever reason, Vietnamese football is gradually losing its attractive personalities, enough to attract fans. For those who come to football purely for love, this is certainly an undesirable scenario if Mr. Duc or Mr. Thang withdraws from football. Vietnamese football has had enough separations.