The Vietnam U21 women’s volleyball team has suffered a major shock during their first-ever appearance at the U21 World Championship in Indonesia.

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All of Dang Thi Hong’s statistics were deleted from the FIVB website - Screenshot

In a controversial move, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) not only annulled the results of four of Vietnam's group-stage matches and stripped the team of their Round of 16 qualification, but also erased all official statistics of star player Dang Thi Hong from the 2025 U21 World Championship.

In the four affected matches, Vietnam recorded three wins against U21 Indonesia, U21 Canada, and U21 Serbia, and one loss to U21 Argentina. Only the 3-1 victory over U21 Puerto Rico - where Dang Thi Hong did not play - has been allowed to stand.

Initially, although Vietnam was handed 0-3 losses in all four matches, the team captain’s individual statistics still appeared on the FIVB website. Now, all of her data - points scored, blocks, serves, and overall efficiency - have been completely deleted.

Prior to the annulment, Dang Thi Hong had scored an impressive 83 points, leading the tournament in individual scoring. With her results voided, the new top scorer for Vietnam is Bui Thi Anh Thao with 39 points (ranked 39th overall), followed by Le Thuy Linh (33 points), Pham Quynh Huong (32), Le Nhu Anh (13), and other teammates.

FIVB has announced that the player involved in the violation will no longer be allowed to compete and has requested written clarification from the Vietnam Volleyball Federation (VFV) and the athlete in question. However, it has declined to publicly disclose the exact nature of the violation.

Birth year mismatch cited as key issue

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Dang Thi Hong (#12) was Vietnam’s top scorer before the results were annulled - Photo: Volleyball World


Following the incident, the VFV has taken steps to protect the rights of its athlete and clarify the situation. Earlier speculation that the penalty might involve gender-related issues was firmly denied by FIVB.

The root of the issue lies in a discrepancy between the birth year on official documents and the tournament’s eligibility rule, which requires athletes to be born in 2005 or later. The discrepancy is reportedly due to a delayed birth registration - an issue that remains relatively common in rural areas of Vietnam. FIVB has affirmed that this is strictly a paperwork matter and is unrelated to the athlete's identity.

Despite the controversy, Vietnam’s U21 team bounced back on the court, defeating Egypt 3-1 to secure a spot in the classification round for 17th-20th place, where they will face U21 Chile.

Thien Binh