Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam: 'We must thoroughly handle the problems of Vietnamese football!'

Faced with the current situation of inadequate management and operation of football activities in the country, and fans no longer interested in domestic football, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has requested a preliminary review of the football development strategy to find solutions to fundamentally address the problems.

On the afternoon of September 28, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam worked with leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and representatives of a number of relevant ministries and branches on the current situation of Vietnamese football, as well as the organization and operation of the VFF.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam speaks at the meeting.

The report of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Football Federation clearly stated that in recent times, Vietnamese football has achieved many remarkable achievements. The football training and competition movement has developed widely. Infrastructure and grounds have been heavily invested. Many clubs, training centers, and youth football training centers have been established.

The system of amateur and professional football tournaments is regularly organized at all ages and levels and has achieved some achievements in international tournaments. The socialization of football has been promoted, attracting many resources to develop football. Hundreds of businesses, economic organizations, and individuals have invested in clubs, sponsored tournaments, etc.

However, there are still many shortcomings and inadequacies in football management and operation, from the development of grassroots football to professional clubs; training, coaching, ideological education, ethics, and lifestyle for athletes have not been given due importance.

Negative manifestations such as gambling, match-fixing, violent behavior, and lack of culture in competition still occur...

At the meeting, many opinions focused on analyzing the causes of the existing problems and shortcomings in football development, and the fact that fans are no longer interested in football. First of all, the awareness of the viewpoint and goals of football development is not complete.

The inadequate mechanism causes clubs to face difficulties in many aspects such as finance, grounds, and training routes. Especially the disease of achievements, lack of thinking and long-term vision of football people, professional management organizations. State management has not kept up with reality.

In his speech, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam emphasized that football is a sport that is of great public interest. In 2013, the Prime Minister approved the Vietnam Football Development Strategy to 2020, which considers football development “an effective tool to contribute to educating patriotism, national pride, and promoting the country's image in the international arena”.

The Deputy Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to organize an open conference to listen to the opinions of all experts.

The Strategy has been implemented for 4 years. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism needs to urgently conduct a preliminary review of the implementation of this Strategy, clarify the viewpoints, major goals and orientations that need to be adjusted, supplemented, and the implementation roadmap in the coming years.

“In particular, evaluate whether the recent steps to professional football are reasonable. How can we harmonize the mobilization of social resources from large enterprises with the desire to maintain the image of the “flag and colors” of the majority of fans?”, the Deputy Prime Minister raised the issue.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that the most important thing in the summary of the Strategy is to clearly analyze the shortcomings and causes; strictly recognize and clearly assign the responsibilities of each organization and individual, due to mechanisms and objective or subjective conditions in each content; to what extent are the responsibilities of state management agencies, ministries, branches and localities; has the organizational structure and operation of VFF complied with the law on professional social organizations and regulations of international football federations of which VFF is a member?

The Deputy Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to organize an open conference to listen to the opinions of all experts, stakeholders, and fans who are passionate about the development of the country's football.

“Clarifying the real reason why fans are not interested in football is because the pitches are not good, the players are not of high quality or because football is not really healthy as public opinion reflects. From there, we can come up with the right solutions and treatments, and thoroughly handle the problems related to players, referees, investment enterprises, organization work…”, the Deputy Prime Minister said and reiterated that “football is a sport that receives a lot of attention. The management and operation of football activities must comply with legal regulations, respect the role of professional social organizations and international practices”.

According to Chinhphu.vn