Song Lam Nghe An with solutions to thoroughly combat age fraud

To better understand this issue, Nghe An Newspaper reporter had an interview with the Director of Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center - Mr. Tran Quang Dung.

PV: Can you tell us how the Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center is currently selecting athletes?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:Currently, the Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center has many advantages in finding quality athletes. Because with the active support from the Department of Culture and Sports, the Nghe An youth football training center has built 25 grassroots football classes spread across 17 districts, cities and towns in the province. This is what has helped Song Lam Nghe An limit the omission of football talents. In particular, through the Nghe An Newspaper Cup Youth Football Tournament held annually, the Song Lam Nghe An youth football training center has found many quality young players to add to the U11 and U13 teams. In addition, in each recruitment season, the Center has also actively searched for talents in Ha Tinh province and attracted outstanding factors in some neighboring provinces. This is the advantage that helps the Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center always have a strong source of player resources. With that quality player force and experienced coaching staff, teams such as U9, U11, U13 Song Lam Nghe An always achieve high results in tournaments organized by the Vietnam Football Federation.

PV:Currently, how many classes does Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center have and how many athletes does it train?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:Currently, Song Lam Nghe An is being ordered by Nghe An province to train football athletes. Accordingly, Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center organizes 10 youth football classes ranging from U9 to U21 with 200 athletes.

PV: Recently, some newspapers have raised questions about age fraud at the Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center. Can you tell us whether this situation exists or not?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:As we know, in recent times, the U9, U11, U13 teams of Song Lam Nghe An have often achieved very high results. Therefore, some newspapers have raised questions about age fraud in Song Lam Nghe An. In fact, in previous years there may have been cases of incorrect records when selecting to enter the Center. This is an issue that Song Lam Nghe An is very concerned about.

After the 2023 season ended, the club's leadership requested the Center to strictly control the age of each athlete, not allowing age discrepancies to affect the player's development, as well as the club's image.

Deeply understanding that problem, we held a meeting and proposed a series of solutions to thoroughly resolve this situation. In particular, we worked with the Nghe An Department of Justice to check the records of each athlete belonging to the Center.

For athletes who pass the selection exam, the Center will require submission of all types of documents, especially providing an identification code. Once we have the identification code of each player, we will send it to the Nghe An Department of Justice to verify the accuracy of that athlete's information.

In addition, from July 1, 2024, before each tournament, to avoid age fraud, the Center requires all players to make a citizen identification card.

With Vietnam constantly improving its judicial system, we are completely confident that we have checked all player records through the Nghe An Department of Justice.

However, there are still cases where players have incorrect ages beyond the control of the Center. I think that these are cases such as players whose parents got married early and so registered their child's birth late, or some cases in remote areas where the birth was registered late, but these are rare cases.

For the sake of fairness and the legitimate rights of children in general and football athletes in particular, as well as the honor and reputation of the club, Song Lam Nghe An affirms that it absolutely does not have a policy of cheating on athletes' ages or supporting cheating or falsifying records and documents.

PV: So when discovering cases of doubt about the real age of players, how will Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center handle it?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:It must be affirmed that Song Lam Nghe An does not have the function of investigating the age of athletes, that is under the authority of other agencies. Therefore, when we have checked the validity of the players' records through the Vietnamese Judicial System, the player is naturally qualified to participate in tournaments organized by the Vietnam Football Federation. However, if there is a player whose real age we doubt but has good physique and skills, he will be promoted to a higher U class than the current one.

It must be affirmed that we are determined to thoroughly resolve the age fraud situation.

PV: Recently, public opinion has wondered that, with many years of coaching experience, it is not difficult for coaches to recognize the real age of players. So what do you think about this issue?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:For coaches with many years of experience, through technique, football thinking, physical strength, physique... they will be able to assess the real age of the athlete relatively accurately. However, there are still cases where athletes have genetic mutations that make them taller and older than their real age. In such cases, it is very difficult for coaches to accurately assess the real age of the athletes. However, once again, we affirm that the Center never promotes the situation of cheating on the age of players at the Song Lam Nghe An youth football training center.

PV: So, through eliminating age fraud in players, how will the Center aim for a long-term strategy to develop youth football?

Mr. Tran Quang Dung:According to the policy of the Club's Board of Directors, the achievements in youth tournaments will not be placed too much emphasis on for the Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center. Instead, the club hopes that in the near future, it will discover many football talents who will effectively contribute to the National youth teams, thereby contributing to providing quality human resources for the Song Lam Nghe An first team. With the above policy, we will focus on training players according to their age. The Song Lam Nghe An Youth Football Training Center is determined to eliminate age fraud so that players can achieve the best skills when they grow up.

PV: Thank you for this interview!