VietNamNet Bridge – The Hanoi Club’s absence from and Dong Thap FC’s plan to buy the card of Navibank Saigon at the 2013 V-League are the latest move of Vietnam’s football.



Players of Hanoi FC.


In the meeting to discuss measures to deal with difficulties of football teams in early November, Mr. Le Xuan Thong, Hanoi FC’s managing director asked the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and the Vietnam Professional Football JSC (VPF) to extend the deadline for 2013 V-League registration to December 8.

But on November 14, Thong admitted that Hanoi FC could not find a sponsor for the next football season. Therefore, the team will be absent from the 2013 V-League. At present, the fate of its players is unclear.

Navibank Saigon is also in trouble. After it was transferred to Xuan Thuy Company, this team has not been renamed yet and its future is an uncertainty.

Its best players – Tai Em, Viet Cuong and Long Giang – signed new contracts with Saigon Xuan Thanh FC. The team now has less than 14 players, not enough to register for the 2013 V-League, according to VFF Chairman Nguyen Trong Hy.

Meanwhile, Dong Thap FC, which fell from the V-League to the First Division Tournament, said it wanted to buy the card of Navibank Saigon to the V-League, at the price of VND7 billion ($350,000). Some companies also wanted to be the team’s sponsors. However, Navibank Saigon’s boss Nguyen Duc Thuy did not agree. Thuy is now in the U.S. and he is going to return to Vietnam on November 16 to make the final decision.

According to VPF’s CEO Pham Ngoc Vien, if 11 or 13 teams register for the V-League, a play-off game between Dong Thap and Dong Nai (the teams ranked third in the First Division Tournament 2012). The winner will have a card to the V-League. If 12 teams register for the V-League, the tournament will be held with 12 teams, instead of 14 teams as usual.

Compiled by Nam Nguyen