VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s football builds its house from the roof! This statement implies not only the football training system of Vietnam but the whole football economy, which is different from the world.

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Over the years, the Vietnamese football has been still at a standstill though it has been dressed up the “professional name.” The idea of "socialization" of football by putting football teams to the hands of wealthy patrons was thought to help open a new page for Vietnam’s football, but it has also led to unpredictable risks.

And when patrons "flee" for any reason, a comprehensive crisis will break out.

When the house has no foundation

Mr. Alfred Riedl, the former Austrian coach of the Vietnamese national football team, summed up about Vietnam’s football after several years in Vietnam: Vietnam’s soccer builds its house from the roof! This statement implies not only the training system but also the football economy of Vietnam.

In developed countries, they earn money from football to develop football, and the sources of money for football are very diverse and abundant: from football tickets to advertising items, souvenirs, TV royalties, etc.

Except for Chelsea, Man City or PSG, the emerging forces that have lost financial balance because they bought expensive stars and undercut reserve players and live dependently on the funding and the inspiration of billionaire patrons.

Back to Vietnam’s football, stadiums filled with fans in the Vietnam is unreal so the so-called “revenue from the sale of tickets” is too far away. No audience means no services associated with football.

You can visit the Camp Nou Stadium and learn about the history of hundreds of years of Barca, but what you will find when you visit the Thong Nhat Stadium in HCM City and what you can expect from the "history" of Navibank Saigon FC?

You can be full of admiration in the theater of dreams (Old Traford stadium) and look at the world's top players like Rooney playing football there, but where can you find it from Vietnam’s big stadiums, where have players who are qualified to the cost of billion dong paid for them by patrons?

Vietnam does not have the basic condition for football - fans. When Real became the La Liga champion, could you count the number of people who flocked to the Cibeles Square to celebrate? In Vietnam, perhaps that huge number of fans is only for the national team.

Vietnam’s football after the war has never lacked talents, but it also has other implications. With 50 years of existence, The Cong Club used to be an imposing monument of Vietnamese football, but that monument could not survive in today world.

Vietnam’s has tradition. But that tradition is not strong enough to survive before the challenges of time.

Reidl’s statement is still standing as a "monument!" The saying he made quite unacceptable for someone but it can not be denied because it is emitted by a sincere man who thoroughly understands Vietnam’s football.

The roof is rotten?

"The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) is standing at a lower level than the average of society!" This is another famous statement of VFF’s former chairman, Mr. Mai Liem Truc, which is similar as a curse. After that, VFF agreed to sell the commercial rights of Vietnam’s football to AVG in 20 years, at a dirty low price.

After 2012 Olympics, when Vietnam had no gold medal, local newspapers only had words of blame of sports officials. It is very funny that they even blamed the audience for the "crime" of cheering athletes too enthusiastically, which made athletes lose their nerve.

Those words of blame re-appeared on the media when boss Nguyen Duc Kien of ACB Hanoi FC, who was then arrested for business-related wrongdoings, berated the VFF. That shock led to the establishment of the Vietnam Professional Football JSC (VPF).

One year later, a member of VPF berated this firm. This time it was boss Nguyen Van De of Thanh Hoa FC. De criticized VPF and asked it to give back the right of management of Vietnam’s professional football tournaments to the VFF. De revealed the “comedy” of VPF or Vietnam’s football.

What will happen if patrons like De stop investing in football? In fact, boss Do Quang Hien withdrew capital from SHB Danang and Hanoi T&T while Navibank stated to stop funding the Navibank Saigon FC.

Then, a comprehensive crisis has begun?

Nhat Ngon