VietNamNet Bridge - Hanoi T & T and Ninh Binh football clubs may have to pay huge compensations for foreign footballers owing to the change of rules by football management agencies.

Korean player Sim Woon Sub of Ninh Binh FC.

According to the regulations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the teams attending the AFC Cup are allowed to use four foreign players but the fourth must be an Asian.

Under this rule, the Vietnam Professional Football JSC, the organizer of professional football leagues in Vietnam – gave Hanoi T & T and Ninh Binh – Vietnamese representative at the AFC Cup - a green light to recruit four foreign players for the 2014 season.

Ninh Binh FC’s Chairman Pham Van Le said: "Before signing a contract with the fourth foreign player, I phoned VPF General Director Pham Ngoc Vien to ask for his approval. However, only a few days before the open of V-League 2014, we learned that the regulations issued by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) do not allow us to use four foreign players. We paid a billion dong to sign a contract with a foreign player."

Mr. Le confirmed that he would have never signed a contract with a foreign player to just to play a few games in the AFC Cup. Only after receiving information that the fourth foreign player can play in the V-League, Ninh Binh FC recruited the Korean midfielder Sim Woon Sub.

Ha Noi T & T club is quite pleased with the expertise of Australian players - Ghallagher . Photo: GC .

Le said that the salary of foreign players is at least $5,000 per month and the team must pay a minimum of $40,000 for a foreign player for a season of eight months. In addition, the team has to pay transfer money, bonus, travel costs, accommodations, etc. If the fourth foreign player is not allowed to play in the V-League, Ninh Binh FC will lose a lot of money.

Chairman of the Hanoi T & T FC – Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hoi also reacted strongly with representatives of the V-League Organizing Committee at the Hang Day Stadium last weekend. This club also signed a contract with Australian midfielder Ghallagher to take advantage of the new rules. However, due to the sudden change from the management agencies, particularly the VFF and VPF, Hanoi T&T may have to compensate for its broken contract with one of the four foreign players - Gonzalo, Hector, Goran and Ghallagher.

Of these, the positions of Gonzalo and Hector in the team are pretty firm. Ghallagher played impressive in the first game of the 2014 V-League so Goran may have to say goodbye to the team. This player earns monthly wages of $6,500 so Hanoi T&T will have to pay huge compensation.

VPF General Director Pham Ngoc Vien said this company is convincing the VFF and the Sports and Physical Training Administration to change the decision.

Nam Nguyen