VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam is no longer a paradise for foreign football players. Plans to recruit foreign players of football teams have been stalled, waiting for the meeting of sponsors on March 11.

Argentinian striker Gaston Merlo.

As pillars of their teams, who also bring in new quality to the V-League, good foreign players in V-League are forced to say goodbye to their clubs because the clubs are unable to pay what they want. In addition, regulations restrict foreign players and nationalized players in the next season are also the barrier for the player transfer market in 2013.

The effort to reduce the number of foreign players was made at the Thanh Hoa FC. As soon as the 2012 season ended, the team liquidated the contracts with all foreign players, including Da Silva, Andrew and Fikru. The move does not make anyone surprised because the level of expertise of this trio is considered very normal. However, ending the contract with Sunday Emmanuel is considered an unwise decision because this Nigerian player has contributed so much to Thanh Hoa FC last season. The absence of Sunday will surely affect the performance of the team in the new season.

However, the plan to terminate contracts with all foreign players is in the calculation of the team’s boss, Mr. De. According to the FC’s chair, the pay for foreign players takes up too much of the team's operating budget. So, Thanh Hoa decided to say goodbye to them, at the right time when their contracts matured.

This is the logical choice because according to De, on March 11, at the conference of the bosses of FCs, the number of foreign players in a V-League club, and the First Division Tournament will be decided. If restriction on foreign players is approved, the transfer market will increasingly bleak and the transfer price of foreign players will certainly be deep down.

The movement to reduce the number of foreign players also takes place with rich FCs. Even the captain Cristiano Roland of Ha Noi T & T FC also becomes a victim. This foreign player greatly contributed to Hanoi T&T’s V-League in 2010 championship and the runner-up title in 2011, 2012 of Hanoi T & T.

Ha Noi T & T’s decision to not expand its contract with Cristiano made his teammates feel shocked. Many people believe that the toweringly high wages of the Brazilian midfielder is the main reason leading to this breakup. Also, Cristiano is 37 years old now. In fact, in his last season with Hanoi T & T, Cristiano no longer maintained his good performance.

In Hanoi Club, star Timothy has to say goodbye. The Nigerian striker’s leave is inevitable because last season, his relations with local stars such as Cong Vinh, Thanh Luong were not very nice. In fact, Timothy prepared for the leave for a long time ago. After the team’s boss Nguyen Duc Kien was arrested, this striker quick left the club find a new team. Currently, Ninh Binh and Binh Duong are very interested in Timothy but the high pay and high transfer price are the barriers that hinder the foreign striker to find a new “home.”

In the South, the team with the highest number of foreign players in the V-League - Saigon Xuan Thanh – has massively ended contracts with foreign and nationalized players. Huynh Kesley and Nguyen Rogerio – the ones who greatly contribute to the team’s third place in V-League and the National Cup 2012 also had to leave the team the find a new job.

During the peak time of the V-League, to polish the name of Saigon Xuan Thanh, its boss--Mr. Thuy, brook the team's salary rules to employ Huynh Kesley and Nguyen Rogerio. As being revealed by CEO Tran Tien Dai, Nguyen Rogerio received $12,000 per month, while the salary of Huynh Kesley was also not less than that.

In addition to these two naturalized players, three foreign striker players of Saigon Xuan Thanh, including Antonio Carlos, Nsi and Moses are also available for being sold but it seems to be very difficult to sell these “products” as the demand for foreign players is very low.

Among the separations, the most surprising case is Gaston Merlo. The Argentinian striker is the largest contributor to the success of the Da Nang FC under coach Le Huynh Duc. Regardless of the team’s performance, Gaston Merlo scored very often and greatly contributing to the great success to the team’s the last two championship at the V-League. However, his knee injury which is difficult to recover timely is the reason that Da Nang terminated the contract with this player.

As local football clubs must tighten their belts, V-League is no longer a paradise of foreign players. Plans to recruit foreign players are stalled, waiting for the conference of football bosses on November 3.

Nam Nguyen