Doubts about VFF Vice President of Finance candidate

The sports sector recently approved the introduction of 3 officials under its management authority to run for election at the 8th VFF Congress, including: Deputy Minister Le Khanh Hai (Chairman position), Department Head, Permanent Vice President of VFF Term 7 (Professional Vice President) and Director of My Dinh National Sports Complex Can Van Nghia (Finance Vice President).

Deputy Minister Le Khanh Hai is expected to build an effective working team if elected as President of VFF for the 8th term.

Following the direction of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last May, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is responsible for consolidating and perfecting the VFF leadership apparatus for the 8th term, in the context that Vietnamese football is facing many opportunities for development, but the VFF has signs of disunity and fighting among itself. Looking at the direction of the Government, it is difficult to understand that the sports industry is aiming for the 3 most important seats in the VFF, including the financial seat.

In the position of President, Deputy Minister Le Khanh Hai is currently the only candidate. If looking at the history of VFF congresses, the possibility of Mr. Le Khanh Hai being elected is up to 99%, if not certain. Similarly, the position of Vice President in charge of professional affairs, current Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan is also highly appreciated.

Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan’s opponent in this position is only the former Vice President of VFF Pham Ngoc Vien, who is nearly 70 years old! Another person is Mr. Duong Vu Lam, who has long been known only as the head of the youth teams. Footballers say that Mr. Duong Vu Lam is “light-hearted” and often brings luck to the team.

Before the election, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had already secured two seats in the VFF. In fact, the matter of a state official holding a seat in a professional social organization, although not really encouraged at present, if that person can do the job, or has the potential to do well, is not worth discussing. At that time, the Ministry holding three or even four or five VFF leadership seats would not be a problem. But the fact that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism approved the decision to introduce the Director of the My Dinh Sports Complex, Can Van Nghia, to compete for the position of Vice President of Finance of the VFF is really surprising and suspicious.

Under Mr. Can Van Nghia, My Dinh Sports Complex often caused controversy because of its activities of renting out premises to open beer pubs, beer houses, massage services... causing loss of urban beauty, and was warned by local authorities many times. According to recent research, the financial activities of My Dinh Sports Complex also have urgent issues that have not been clarified.

Lao Dong newspaper recently raised a very thoughtful question, that Mr. Can Van Nghia used to be in charge of sponsorship and financial positions at the Vietnam Olympic Committee and the Aquatic Sports Association. So when the sports industry sends its people, does it consider the effectiveness of the officials' work, or is it just to let "family members" compete for seats with businessmen outside the society?

It should be noted that in recent terms, the VFF Finance Vice President has often been held by a big businessman. Currently, it is HAGL Group Chairman Doan Nguyen Duc and before Mr. Duc, it was Mr. Le Hung Dung. Meanwhile, Mr. Can Van Nghia will retire next September.

Looking at some federations such as tennis, athletics, shooting... the President positions are all famous businessmen. Yes, football has a big impact on society, many big businessmen have also refused even though the sports industry has offered, forcing the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to send someone to take over. This story can be shared, but even the financial chair that has long been full of businessmen that the Ministry has wanted to take at all costs, who would want to compete?

Regardless