Has Vietnamese football surpassed Thailand?
(Baonghean.vn) - The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) has held many meetings to find out the reasons why Thai football is showing signs of slowing down and falling behind Vietnam. Meanwhile, we are looking at Thai 1-League with a series of questions.
Successful player abroad
Speaking of players, Thai football still possesses excellent players of continental stature. While Cong Phuong is packing his bags to leave Sint-Truidense Club (Belgium) for Vietnam, and Van Hau is still unable to play in the Dutch championship, the reigning J1 League champion - Yokohama F Marinos has reached an agreement to buy left-back Theerathon Bunmathan from Muangthong United for 35 million baht (1.2 million USD).
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Muangthong United have agreed to sell left-back Theerathon Bunmathan to Japanese champions Yokohama Marinos. Photo: YM |
Last season, Theerathon Bunmathan played 25 matches for Yokohama F Marinos, scoring 3 goals and providing 4 assists. Theerathon was a regular starter for his new club, contributing greatly to their championship win after 15 years of waiting.
Previously, midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin moved to Consadole Sapporo for an estimated $2.6 million. This is a club where, when still in the Second Division, captain striker Cong Vinh could not find a starting position.
In addition, there are two more Thai players who are playing abroad, Thitipan Puangchan (Oita Trinita Club, J.League 1, Japan) and Kawin Thamsatchanan (OH Leuven Club, Belgian Second Division) who are also starting players. Brands such as Coca Cola, Sponso, and Toyota compete to sponsor the Thai national championship.
Professional championship
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| Xuan Truong encountered many difficulties when competing in Thai 1-League. Photo: FAT |
Regarding competition conditions, the 16 clubs participating in Thai 1-League certainly will not need to wait for the "guarantee" of the VPF Organizing Committee like SLNA, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa. There will also be no example like Hong Linh Ha Tinh, after "borrowing troops" they have to rush to "borrow fields" to play professional football. Regarding youth training, the clubs in Bangkok have up to 4-5 satellite football academies like HAGL, PVF... run by foreign coaches.
Even the Chainat and Pataya United clubs at the bottom of the rankings do not have a stable financial base year after year like Nam Dinh, SLNA or many other V.League teams. Thai clubs are better at making money from the pitch than Vietnam, most V.League clubs are "specialized" households, the ticket sales of only 2 billion VND/year is nothing compared to the annual budget of 40 - 50 billion VND.
For example, True Vision's television copyright will expire next year 2020 and the Football Association of Thailand is preparing to open an auction for media copyright, live broadcasting both domestically and internationally for 8 consecutive years from 2021-2028.
The winning bidder will own the copyright of the Thai Premier League from tier 1-4, FA Cup, League Cup, including matches of the Thai men's and women's national football teams, the Thai national futsal team, Futsal League and beach soccer.
According to Siamsports, contractors will have to pay at least 2 billion baht (about 1,500 billion VND) in exchange for this 8-year contract. Each club will pocket at least 10 million baht (300 thousand USD) in television copyright fees each season.
There are still many different opinions about the quality of V.League and Thai 1-League. But clearly, good Vietnamese players like Xuan Truong and goalkeeper Van Lam still face difficulties when playing in Thai 1-League. Even naturalized player Hoang Vu Samson has good physique, fitness and skills but when leaving Hanoi FC, he could not survive in this playground.
AFC highly appreciates
For club level, from the 2014 AFC Champions League season onwards, in addition to the direct ticket to the group stage, the Thai Premier League will be given an additional ticket to the second qualifying round along with the reigning Thai FA Cup champion. This means that Thai football has 2 slots, while Vietnam only has half a slot.
In the 2020 season, V-League runner-up Ho Chi Minh City FC only has half a place in the Champions League. Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City FC must play a play-off with Thai-League runner-up Buriram. If they win, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to play a play-off with a representative from China... Meanwhile, the 2019 Thai-League champion Chiang Rai will go straight to the group stage of the top continental club tournament AFC Champions League.
It is true that we won the AFF Cup and SEA Games, becoming the top team in Southeast Asia. But that does not mean that our football has surpassed Thailand. VFF and Vietnamese professional football clubs still have a lot of work to do.