Protesting against VFF, the first Vietnamese football team withdrew from the tournament.

Accordingly, VFF announced that the 2018 National Second Division will not have the participation of Mancons Saigon Club and at the same time, the tournament's regulations will be revised. Specifically, from having one relegated team, the tournament will have no relegated team. The three teams with the best results in the final round will still be promoted to the 2019 First Division.

Mancons Saigon has announced to withdraw from the 2018 National Second Division.

Explaining the exclusion of Mancons Saigon FC, a VFF official said that because Mancons FC wanted to retain their second-class spot and had not completed the registration procedures (paying fees, registering hours, and playing field) until the opening day of the tournament, VFF was forced to exclude this team from the tournament. In addition, VFF also had to change the regulations to accommodate the number of participating teams.

Regarding the reason for not completing the registration procedure to participate in the tournament, Mr. Tran Nguyen Hung, Chairman of Mancons Saigon said: “The VFF organization does not respect the teams and looks down on the second division tournament, so I will not participate. I will wait until the VFF organizes well before considering letting the team play again. Everyone is grown up, they understand more than they say. If you keep telling them and they do not understand, then why bother telling them anymore?”

Thus, the 2018 National Second Division will have 13 participating teams. Group A includes Phu Dong FC, Pho Hien Hung Yen, Nam Dinh, Lam Dong, Kon Tum, Binh Thuan, Fishsan Khanh Hoa. Group B includes Ba Ria Vung Tau, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Long An, An Giang and Vinh Long.

The teams will compete in a round-robin format to calculate points and rank. The top two teams in each group will advance to the final round. The two winning teams will be promoted to the 2019 national first division. The two losing teams will meet to compete for the remaining ticket.