The problem of "one boss, two teams" with Vietnamese football: Like a long-running TV series

It seems that after a series of rather indignant responses from the press and leaders of other football teams, and even from a former leader of the VFF (former Vice President of the VFF Tran Duy Ly) about the persistent existence of the situation of "one owner, two football teams" in the V-League for several years now, it seems that the VFF cannot continue to remain silent. Until late yesterday afternoon, although the VFF had not yet issued any official announcement on this issue that is causing public concern, it is said that the regulations on sponsors in Article 67 of the Professional Football Regulations have been brought to the working table for careful study.

According to the statement of Mr. Hien in the online exchange on the Electronic Football newspaper on September 26, that: "Legally, HN.T&T Club belongs to T&T Sports Joint Stock Company, SHB.DN belongs to SHB.DN Sports Joint Stock Company. SHB sponsors SHB.DN Sports Joint Stock Company and T&T sponsors T&T Sports Joint Stock Company. SHB and T&T are two companies operating independently according to the law on enterprises. Regarding this, VFF has inspected annually and confirmed that it is not a situation of one owner - two football teams", then between HN.T&T and SHB.DN there is no direct connection to conclude that they are two football teams of Mr. Hien in terms of documents.

Mr. Hien often appears with members of SHB.DN

It is true that in reality, Mr. Hien does not have shares in SHB.DN Sports Joint Stock Company and maybe even in T&T Sports Joint Stock Company, as the inspection results of VFF show, but this does not mean much, when the two Sports Joint Stock Companies SHB.DN and T&T certainly would not have found tens of billions of VND to spend on HN.T&T and SHB.DN without the money of Mr. Hien, who holds the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of both T&T Group and SHB Bank, the "parent company" of the two Sports Joint Stock Companies SHB.DN and T&T.

Therefore, if we say that because Mr. Hien does not have shares in SHB.DN Sports Joint Stock Company or T&T Sports Joint Stock Company, we say that Mr. Hien is not "the owner of two football teams", then it is very unconvincing. If Mr. Hien is not the owner of both of these clubs, then why is it that all the most important decisions at HN.T&T and SHB.DN, from personnel to finance, show Mr. Hien's decisive role, in which the most obvious is that this owner often publicly announces the bonus for HN.T&T or SHB.DN after each victory right in front of the press and VFF officials.

VFF may argue that as a professional social organization, they do not have the tools to monitor and check to know exactly what the status of Mr. Hien's shares in T&T and SHB is, but in fact this is not important, because Mr. Hien is holding the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of both T&T Group and SHB Bank, which can speak for everyone.

In terms of regulations, once HN.T&T and SHB.DN have participated in the V-League organized by VFF, they will of course have to comply with all the rules of the game, including presenting all documents proving the origin of the money they receive each year for operations if requested by VFF. Mr. Hien may not have shares in SHB.DN Sports Joint Stock Company, but this enterprise certainly cannot exist without the "milk" of T&T or SHB, because SHB.DN's home ticket sales are not enough to support the club, and the television copyright money is just for fun.

Furthermore, if VFF really wants to eliminate the situation of “one owner, two teams”, then VFF can absolutely do it, because in Europe, CSKA Moscow, Chelsea and FC Copenhagen are 3 clubs in 3 different countries, and UEFA does not allow tycoon Roman Abramovich to take leadership of all 3 teams, then within the national scope, there is no reason why VFF cannot do it, when they have in hand all the sanctions as well as legal documents. Another strange thing is that the situation of “one owner, two teams” has started since 2009, but in the latest Professional Football Regulations, there are still no suitable adjustments to prevent or eliminate this increasingly painful problem.

We must mention the familiar saying of VFF President Nguyen Trong Hy: "Professionalism in Vietnam is different from other countries."

(According to TT&VH)