Troussier is about to become the coach of the Vietnam national team; HAGL has a conflict of interest with VPF

VFF negotiates with coach Troussier

Coach Park did not renew his contract with VFF and left the position of Vietnam national team coach from January 31. According to sources,Coach Troussier will replace the Korean coach. VFF and Mr. Troussier have been negotiating for a long time and have reached a preliminary agreement. Out of respect for Coach Park, both sides have not announced the information.

Mr. Troussier wants to try his hand at the role of head coach of the Vietnam national team, so negotiations with the VFF have gone smoothly. The final issue between the two sides is the salary regime. But the problem will be solved when the VFF finds a partner to sponsor part of the salary for the French coach and his assistants. Previously, the VFF also had a partner to support the salary payment for Coach Park and his Korean colleagues.

Coach Philippe Troussier at a press conference when leading U19 Vietnam in 2019. Photo:Hoang Tung

Coach Troussier was born in 1955 in France and played as a defender for domestic clubs from 1976 to 1983. He switched to coaching immediately after retiring. Troussier was nicknamed the "White Wizard" when he brought South Africa, Ivory Coast and Nigeria to the World Cup. He also helped Japan U20 win the runner-up position at the 1999 U20 World Cup and Japan won the 2000 Asian Cup.

Troussier is no stranger to Vietnamese football, having worked as Technical Director of the PVF Football Training Center since March 2018. During the 2019-2021 period, he led the Vietnam U19 team to win a ticket to the 2020 AFC U19 Championship. However, due to Covid-19, the tournament was canceled. Troussier then went to watch the V-League, First Division, Second Division, U21 and then National U19 tournaments to build a new generation of young players to prepare for the Southeast Asian U18 tournament and the Asian U19 qualifiers in 2021.

HAGL conflicts of interest with VPF

In February 2022, VPF signed and announced the main sponsor of V.League. The main sponsor's rights are "exclusive advertising rights in propaganda activities, press conferences, billboards and other commercial activities related to the tournament".

For clubs, Article 39.1 of the Tournament Charter stipulates that clubs "may not exploit sponsorship with brands and product lines that compete with the main sponsor of the tournament".

Kiatisuk andHAGLhad everything ready with the new sponsor before trouble arose. Photo:HAGL.

In a reply to HAGL, VPF requested that HAGL not use the new sponsor's energy drink advertising image within the scope of activities related to V.League 2023. These include placing billboards on the field, logos on jerseys, sideline activities during official training and competition days...

VPF's request is to ensure the exclusive sponsor's rights according to the tournament's regulations. Accordingly, HAGL's "energy drink" will not appear. VPF does not prohibit other product lines of this unit.

In fact, HAGL received sponsorship from another energy drink brand in the 2021 season. At that time, VPF did not have the main sponsor Night Wolf. Therefore, VPF did not interfere with this contract of HAGL.

But in January 2023, HAGL ended the old contract and launched a new main sponsor, also an energy drink brand. According to Zing's research, HAGL officially ended the contract with sponsor Red Bull on January 14 and announced a new sponsor on January 15. This is also an energy drink brand.

Because VPF's contract with the main sponsor for V.League was signed and announced in early 2022, HAGL's acceptance of main sponsorship from an energy drink brand violated the V.League 2023 regulations, affecting the rights of the main sponsor. VPF immediately contacted the team. VPF's request is that HAGL not promote the image of the new sponsor according to the tournament's regulations.

That puts HAGL in a difficult position. Since V.League 2023 opens on February 3, HAGL has almost completed all preparations with the new sponsor. They painted the sponsor's name on the B stand of Pleiku stadium, took photos of the season, printed the sponsor's logo on the 2023 jersey...

According to the V.League 2023 regulations, HAGL will not be able to pay full benefits to the new sponsor. The damage to the team and the sponsor is not small, greatly affecting the brands of both sides. Therefore, Mr. Duc disagreed and announced that he would withdraw from the tournament if VPF did not allow a new sponsor to accompany HAGL. He said that VPF did not create conditions for HAGL to develop. The controversy will continue when both VPF and HAGL have not been able to find a common voice in the context of V.League 2023 approaching very soon.

Casemiro unhappy with Bruno after receiving yellow card

In the 80th minute of MU's 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace in the early morning of January 19 (Hanoi time), Casemiro pulled down Wilfried Zaha to prevent his opponent from approaching the penalty area. Referee Robert Jones immediately showed the Brazilian midfielder a yellow card.

After receiving the card, Casemiro approached Bruno Fernandes and expressed his displeasure. Before that, the Portuguese midfielder lost the ball to Tyrick Mitchell. Casemiro played carefully for most of the match but still had to commit a foul to help MU avoid a dangerous attack.

The camera also turned to the Man United technical area, where coach Erik Ten Hag looked disappointed and kept shaking his head. He knew that with this card, Casemiro would not be able to play against Arsenal at the weekend because he had received 5 yellow cards.

Bruno had to explain to his teammates after losing the ball so badly.

MU suffered a double loss when they lost the victory in the second half's injury time after Michael Olise's superb free kick, and also lost a key player in the most important match of the season.

After the match, David de Gea expressed his frustration with the Premier League's scheduling: "MU's best player cannot play against the strongest opponent. I don't understand why MU has to play today while the opponents are rested. This could make a difference for the weekend matches. Casemiro's suspension is a huge loss for us."