Emotion and reason
(Baonghean) - The contract dispute between Buu Ngoc and Dong Thap Club began on October 30, 2014, after the club failed to pay his salary, bonuses, and other benefits.
1. With less than a month until the start of the 2015 V.League season, this should ideally be the period when clubs focus on training and competitive matches to gradually refine their squads for the tournament. However, some clubs are currently embroiled in legal disputes. First, there's the case of Duong Thanh Hao (Vietnam U23 national team player) who, after a legal dispute with Dong Thap FC, accepted a compensation payment of 700 million VND to terminate his contract and join QNK Quang Nam.
Conversely, Vietnamese national team player Mac Hong Quan is in a difficult position, unable to leave or stay, as QNK Quang Nam FC has demanded 1.4 billion VND as a termination fee for a contract he signed less than two months ago. Naturally, Mac Hong Quan and his family disagree and have filed a request with the VFF for mediation before taking the matter to court. However, the most sensational case is that of U23 Vietnam goalkeeper Buu Ngoc, who has filed a lawsuit with the Dong Thap Provincial Court to unilaterally terminate his contract with Dong Thap FC.
It's worth noting that the contract dispute – involving rights and benefits – between Buu Ngoc (and his representative, Duc Chanh Law Firm) and Dong Thap Club began on October 30, 2014, after the club failed to pay salaries, bonuses, and other benefits to Buu Ngoc and his teammates since July 2014. This doesn't even include the promised bonuses from the previous season, totaling over 300 million VND. The issue wouldn't be controversial if Dong Thap Club hadn't fallen into financial distress, lacking the funds to pay salaries to its players and staff for months.
Therefore, Buu Ngoc disagreed with the compensation offered by the club, citing the high amount of 1 billion VND for breaking his professional contract for one year and the memorandum of contribution to local football until the age of 28. The issue may be clearly right or wrong in principle, but for a player trained from a young age to achieve success, at least he should have considered the emotional connection to the team that was once his home. Yet, Buu Ngoc and Thanh Hao behaved like strangers. Even Dong Thap Club's handling of the situation was not entirely fair. While quickly lowering the price and agreeing to a quick settlement for Thanh Hao (allowing him to complete his contract with QNK Quang Nam), they tried every way to stall for time with Buu Ngoc, to the point that the VFF had to intervene as a "referee" on the afternoon of December 19th (the penultimate day of the deadline for registering the list of players for the 2015 season).
2. The story of the Vietnamese national team's failure at the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup also leaves a lesson about handling situations and emotions. Immediately after the Vietnamese team's defeat to Malaysia in the semi-finals of the 2014 AFF Cup, the President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) declared that the team "had problems" and said he would ask the police to investigate to clarify the matter. This statement by the VFF President received considerable support from fans. However, another group argued that Mr. Dung had been too hasty. As for the players, of course, after all their efforts, some could not hide their frustration.
Mr. Nguyen Hong Thanh, General Director of SLNA Football Joint Stock Company, said: “Fans may have suspicions, but for the head of Vietnamese football to suspect match-fixing and invite the police to investigate is extremely dangerous. Here, I propose two hypotheses. First, Mr. Dung has some evidence in hand and he automatically assumes that the national team is involved in match-fixing. This is understandable. If Mr. Dung has no evidence whatsoever and makes such statements, it will greatly harm Vietnamese football.”
Following recent actions, some players have hinted at refusing to join the national team, while the VFF leadership itself has begun considering a "rejuvenation" of the team, initially using the core of the Vietnam U19 team for the upcoming SEA Games gold medal campaign. It remains to be seen whether the future of Vietnamese football will succeed or fail with the current youth rejuvenation by the VFF leadership, but judging from their recent behavior and actions, achieving a "reasonable and empathetic" solution is not an easy task for Vietnamese football.
Dai Nghia
