Vietnam and Thailand negotiate to change the World Cup qualifying schedule

Due to the 28th SEA Games, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) are working together to propose postponing the second qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup.

“If the opponent is not in Southeast Asia, we have no chance to negotiate a change of schedule. However, the opponent is Thailand. They are also stuck with the 28th SEA Games. VFF is negotiating with FAT. If they agree to change the match schedule between the two national teams, both sides will submit it to the Asian Football Confederation,” said VFF General Secretary Le Hoai Anh.

The Vietnamese team began the second qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup with a visit to Thailand on June 11, coinciding with the time when coach Toshiya Miura was leading the U23 Vietnam team to compete in the 28th SEA Games. Thailand also faced difficulties as coach Kiatisak was also in charge of both the Thai national team and the U23 Thailand team.

Vietnam will face Thailand in both the second qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup and the group stage of the 28th SEA Games. Photo: SS

Vietnam and Thailand hope to change the match schedule, but the possibility of success is very low. A VFF leader said that the Asian Football Confederation will find it difficult to accept the request of VFF and FAT because changing the schedule will create a bad precedent, and will affect many factors such as booking tickets for officials to attend the match, accommodation for referees, etc.

VFF has also anticipated that the Asian Football Confederation will not approve, so it is planning to choose a replacement for coach Miura to lead the Vietnamese team in the match against Thailand. The most promising candidate at present is coach Takashi, who is currently in charge of the Vietnamese women's team.

“Coach Takashi and Miura both come from Japan, so their football philosophy and language are similar. In addition, the signed contract also has a clause allowing VFF to assign coach Takashi to other positions, in addition to the role of head coach of the women's team,” added VFF Secretary General Le Hoai Anh.

In addition to the coaching staff, VFF also has a headache in arranging players for the two teams. Under coach Miura, there are many players who are pillars of both the U23 Vietnam team and the national team such as Hoang Thinh, Huy Hung, Ngoc Hai...

According to VNE