Outside hitter Dang Thi Hong briefly appeared on the official roster of Vietnam’s U21 women’s volleyball team for their match against Chile at the 2025 FIVB U21 World Championship – only to be removed shortly afterward due to a “typing error.”

At noon on August 15, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) published the Vietnam U21 team lineup on its official website, with the name of Dang Thi Hong unexpectedly listed.

The sudden appearance of the 2006-born player sparked excitement among Vietnamese volleyball fans, who hoped she might make a surprise return for the 8 p.m. match against Chile in the 17th–20th place playoff.

However, just minutes after her name was posted, it was removed from the list. According to a member of the U21 Vietnam coaching staff, the entire team was surprised to see her name listed.

Shortly after, they received an email from FIVB clarifying that it was a mistake and that her inclusion was a technical error.

Prior to this incident, FIVB had already handed Vietnam a major penalty by canceling the results of four group-stage matches and revoking the team’s spot in the round of 16. Furthermore, all of Dang Thi Hong’s individual statistics at the tournament were deleted.

FIVB has yet to publicly name the athlete involved or disclose the exact reason for the disqualification, though it confirmed that the Vietnam Volleyball Federation and the athlete in question would be invited to submit a written statement. “FIVB will not comment further while the tournament is ongoing,” read the only official statement issued thus far.

Thien Binh