V-League 2020 has to be paused again due to nCoV
The emergence of community-transmitted nCoV infections in Da Nang and Quang Ngai forced VPF to temporarily suspend the 2020 V-League and First Division national championships.
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| Da Nang (orange) held Hanoi to a draw in round 9 of V-League 2020 at Hoa Xuan Stadium on July 12. Photo: Minh Huy |
This weekend, Da Nang and Quang Ngai recorded four consecutive Covid-19 patients, identified as community-transmitted. On July 25, Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, proposed to the Prime Minister many solutions to fight the epidemic in Da Nang - including a proposal to isolate the entire city for 15 days, starting from 0:00 on July 27.
This is the third time this season that Vietnamese tournaments have had to be postponed due to Covid-19. Initially, the tournament was scheduled to start on February 21, but was later postponed to March 6. After two rounds played in empty stadiums, the tournament was postponed again and resumed on June 5.
Since then, the tournament has gone through 11 rounds with the leading position belonging to Saigon FC. According to the original plan, in round 12, Da Nang will play at home against Hai Phong on July 29.
Due to the shortened time, VPF has changed the format this year. 14 teams will compete in a round robin to determine the championship group (eight teams at the top) and the relegation group (six teams at the bottom). The scores of the teams in the first phase will be kept the same for the second phase. This year, there is only one relegation spot, instead of one and a half like previous seasons.
Applying FIFA rules, each team is allowed to make 5 substitutions in 3 times in a match this season.