Song Lam Nghe An officially filed a complaint with the Disciplinary Board of the Vietnam Football Federation.

Concerned about the basis for disciplinary action

On September 13, a leader of the Song Lam Nghe An Club said that the unit had just received a complaint aboutDisciplinary decision No. 624/QD-LĐBĐVN dated September 9, 2024 of the Disciplinary Board of the Vietnam Football Federationfor the U11 Song Lam Nghe An team related to age fraud suspicion.
This complaint was sent to: President of Vietnam Football Federation; General Secretary of Vietnam Football Federation; Complaint Resolution Board of Vietnam Football Federation. Song Lam Nghe An Club also sent along the player's legal file including many certified documents such as ID card, birth certificate...

In the complaint, Song Lam Nghe An gave 3 reasons for disagreeing with the disciplinary decision. Firstly, regarding the disciplinary decision against Song Lam Nghe An, the club stated that, according to the provisions of Article 88 on disciplinary procedures in the Disciplinary Regulations of the Vietnam Football Federation (amended and supplemented in 2023), the Disciplinary Board has the right to directly question the parties involved in the case (including the requesting party, the party being considered for disciplinary action and other related parties), request the parties to present and provide necessary related documents. For serious cases, the Head of the Disciplinary Board may assign members of the Board to investigate, collect information, meet the parties and related people to review the case, etc.
In addition, in principle, the Disciplinary Board handles the case file according to the file. The party subject to disciplinary review presents his/her opinion in the form of a written report at the request of the Board. If necessary, the Board may arrange a hearing to hear the party's presentation, and relevant parties may also be summoned....
“However, the Disciplinary Board of the Vietnam Football Federation did not notify or work with the Song Lam Nghe An Team on this issue, and did not allow the Song Lam Nghe An Team to exercise the right to explain or provide documents and records related to the players that the Team is managing. The Song Lam Nghe An Team did not receive any notice from the Vietnam Football Federation regarding the disciplinary content of the Song Lam Nghe An U11 Team; at the same time, we have never received a notice from the competent authority concluding whether the Team's players' records for the 2024 National U11 Tournament were correct or incorrect. We do not know what basis the Disciplinary Board relied on to make that decision,”the complaint states.

Song Lam Nghe An Club also believes that in case of detecting any violations in the player's legal records, it is necessary to consider which agency issued them, when they were issued, and the legality of the records and documents to find out the cause and consider the responsibility of the relevant agencies and organizations.
“We are the player management unit and based on the legal documents of the players to register players for competition. We are not at fault in the process of training and using players for competition when we have provided complete legal documents in accordance with the regulations of the Organizing Committee. Only evaluating through the documents provided by the Organizing Committee without working directly with the Song Lam Nghe An Team to assign responsibility to the team and make a disciplinary decision against the Song Lam Nghe An Team is a hasty decision, not objective, seriously affecting the reputation of the Song Lam Nghe An Team”,club leaders stated in the complaint.

Song Lam Nghe An affirms no fault

Second, regarding the regulations of the tournament, Song Lam Nghe An Club stated that, based on the provisions of Section 6 of the regulations of the NESTLÉ MILO Cup 2024 National Children's Football Tournament (U11) (Issued under Decision No. 233/QD-LDBĐV, dated April 11, 2024 of the Vietnam Football Federation), the participating teams are required to submit complete records of each player including: Photocopy of birth certificate from the original certified copy; CV with photo of the player, stamped and confirmed by the competent authority; Notice of personal identification number and information in the national population database; Student confirmation certificate confirmed by the Board of Directors of the school where the player is studying; Health certificate confirmed by the hospital (valid for 06 months from the end of the tournament).
“In addition, when competing, bring the original birth certificate of the player for comparison during the personnel file check. When participating in the tournament, Song Lam Nghe An Team has complied with the above regulations, providing all records and papers as prescribed and required by the Organizing Committee. And these papers and documents are all issued and certified by competent authorities in accordance with the provisions of law,”The second content that Song Lam Nghe An Club raised.

Third, regarding the issue of verifying the age of players when recruiting for Song Lam Nghe An, the club said that according to the club's regulations on player selection, when recruiting, the family must provide all necessary documents: health certificate, original birth certificate, personal identification code. When admitted, the student must bring his/her academic transcript to transfer the player to another school. In addition, when admitted, the player will sign a vocational training contract with the management and training unit. All information and legal documents of the player are issued by the competent authority and provided by the player's family for the team to manage.
“Specifically, regarding the birth certificate (original) of the BVB player provided by the family, the time the player's family registered the birth for the child was March 2, 2013 (adjusted according to the family register as March 15, 2013). The child's birth certificate was not newly registered or re-registered by the family during the time the child was selected in 2022 or participated in the tournament, but was registered by the family at the time the child was born in 2013. The team relies on the player's legal documents and records legally provided by competent authorities to provide to the Organizing Committee and register the player for competition. The team has no right to intervene and does not have the function or expertise to verify the player's legal documents and personal life (except in cases where the player cannot provide valid documents) and there is no document from the Vietnam Football Federation requiring the teams to investigate the records, personnel, etc. players themselves through professional measures, such as medical examination to determine the age of the players while the players have full legal documents.the complaint states.

Therefore, Song Lam Nghe An Club affirms that it has complied with the regulations of the tournament, based on the players' legal records and papers to provide full and valid registration documents for the players to compete. In addition, Song Lam Nghe An affirms that the club is a professional, reputable, disciplined football training unit and always complies with the regulations in the tournaments. Song Lam Nghe An Team does not and has never, on its own or in coordination with, incited the players' families to falsify or correct the players' personal documents with the purpose of cheating the players' ages to register for the competition.
“For the above reasons, we believe that the Vietnam Football Federation Disciplinary Board's failure to work with the Song Lam Nghe An Team, to report, to review and evaluate all records and documents, and to issue a disciplinary decision against the Song Lam Nghe An Team is one-sided, lacking objectivity and democracy. The issuance of a disciplinary decision against the Song Lam Nghe An Team has seriously affected the rights, honor and reputation of the Song Lam Nghe An Team, directly affecting the honor and competitive mentality of the players and their families, and at the same time affecting the reputation and quality of the tournament in particular and the reputation of the Vietnam Football Federation in general,”the complaint states.
Song Lam Nghe An Club requests to consider withdrawing and canceling Decision No. 624/QD-LĐBĐVN dated September 9, 2024 on the disciplinary action against the U11 Song Lam Nghe An team of the Disciplinary Board of the Vietnam Football Federation. At the same time, consider and work with Song Lam Nghe An Football Club to resolve issues related to the content of the incident.