Quang Nam asks VFF not to assign referee Nguyen Manh Hai; Thanh Hoa Club receives good news

AFC surveys Vietnam's home field ahead of the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup

During the two-day survey, from February 19 to 20, the AFC delegation coordinated with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Duong province, and Becamex Binh Duong Club to conduct a detailed assessment of the stadium's condition, functional room system, and stadium lighting system. The results showed that most items met the standards for hosting an international match in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.

However, the AFC representative also proposed certain adjustments and upgrades to ensure compliance with the tournament's general standards. The local Organizing Committee committed to quickly deploy and complete these items as soon as possible.

According to the draw results of the final round of the 2027 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team is in Group F with Malaysia, Nepal and Laos. The matches will take place during the FIFA Days from March 25, 2025 to March 31, 2026. At home, the Vietnamese team will play matches against Laos on March 25, 2025, Nepal on October 9, 2025 and Malaysia on March 31, 2026.

As part of the warm-up plan for the race in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team will also have an international friendly match with the Cambodian team at Binh Duong Stadium, scheduled for March 19, 2025.

Thanh Hoa Club receives good news

On the afternoon of February 20, striker Gordon Rimario took a flight back to Vietnam and began training with Thanh Hoa Club. The player born in 1994 has mainly been recovering from injuries in the US in recent times. He has hired a number of top coaches for himself with the ambition of returning to play football as quickly as possible.

In the match between Thanh Hoa and Binh Duong in round 1 of V.League, the Thanh team played impressively and scored the opening goal in the first half. However, the second half witnessed many unfortunate events for Thanh Hoa Club. Rimario was injured when colliding with Tan Tai. Initially, the Jamaican striker thought he only had a minor injury and was out for about 2-3 weeks.

An MRI scan later revealed that Rimario had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. He will be out for the rest of the season.

In a quick exchange with VTC News, a leader of Dong A Thanh Hoa Club said: "Rimario is a player with a very good physique, recovering quickly and stably. However, we do not intend to risk forcing the player into high-intensity training and competition, which is a big risk for the player and the team. First of all, he is there to practice according to the specific training plan set out by the coaching staff."

Striker Nguyen Tien Linh and shooter Trinh Thu Vinh are nominated for Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces.

Two elite athletes of Vietnamese sports are representatives of the sports field nominated in the shortlist of 19 candidates to vote for Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces in 2024.

On February 20 in Hanoi, the Council for the 2024 Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces Award announced a shortlist of 19 candidates for voting.

From 159 nominations of faces in 10 different fields including: Study; Scientific Research - Creativity; Production Labor; Business - Startup; National Defense; Security and Order; Sports; Social Activities; Culture and Arts; State Administrative Management, the Council for the 2024 Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces Award selected the most outstanding individuals to narrow down to 19 nominations.

They will be voted online from February 20 to March 6 on the organizer's website to find the 10 Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces of 2024. The organizers are expected to have an exchange program with some nominees during the online voting period. When the voting results are available, the list of Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces of 2024 will be officially announced.

In the field of sports, football strikerNguyen Tien Linhand shooter Trinh Thu Vinh are 2 faces in 19 nominations.

Quang Nam Club requests VFF not to assign referee Nguyen Manh Hai

On the morning of February 20, Quang Nam Football Club sent a dispatch to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), the Referee Board and the Disciplinary Board to review the penalty imposed on head coach Van Sy Son. In addition, the central team also requested the Referee Board not to assign Mr. Nguyen Manh Hai to officiate matches involving Quang Nam team for the remainder of the season.

"Regarding refereeing, Quang Nam Football Club proposes that the Referee Board study the option of not assigning referees from provinces/cities with teams competing for relegation, to ensure transparency and fairness when officiating matches during the decisive stage of the season. This also contributes to the confidence of fans nationwide in the tournament.

At the same time, consider not assigning referee Nguyen Manh Hai to officiate matches of Quang Nam Club until the end of V.League 2024/25, because referee Nguyen Manh Hai made a mistake in the match between Quang Nam andLam River Nghe Anin round 8 and round 13", the official dispatch of Quang Nam Club clearly stated./.