2 Vietnamese basketball heroes are being made difficult at SEA Games 2025

Controversy arose in basketball at the 2025 SEA Games hosted by Thailand, when twin sisters Truong Thao My and Truong Thao Vy could not participate in the women's 5x5 event.

Sisters Thao My (standing behind) and Thao Vy cried after helping Vietnamese basketball win the gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games - Photo: NGUYEN KHOI

The Vietnamese sports community is no stranger to this pair of overseas Vietnamese sisters. At the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, both were the heroes who brought home a historic gold medal for Vietnamese basketball, in the women's 3x3 category.

In the development roadmap of the Vietnam Basketball Federation, the 3x3 event is the first step. And from the 2025 SEA Games, the Vietnamese team will compete in the 5x5 event, which is a traditional event and also a playground where the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia often dominate.

But the regulations set by host country Thailand at this year's SEA Games have made this goal difficult, as the two Vietnamese-American sisters Thao My and Thao Vy cannot participate in the 5x5 event.

According to the standards of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), both Thao My and Thao Vy are considered naturalized athletes. In basketball, all athletes who obtain citizenship after the age of 16 are considered naturalized.

Unlike soccer, FIBA ​​has long had a rule that each team can only register one naturalized player, called the Hagop Rule (named after Hagop Khajirian - the creator of the rule).

Thanks to this regulation, the basketball world has rarely had any controversy over the issue of naturalization. However, the SEA Games is a sports event that is not under the management of FIBA.

Thao Vy and Thao My (standing in the middle) when winning gold medals at SEA Games 2023 - Photo: NGUYEN KHOI

Following the precedent of previous SEA Games, the number of naturalized athletes is usually not limited. Thanks to that, in recent years, Indonesian and Cambodian basketball has emerged, competing with the Philippines, which is famous for reaching the top level of the continent.

But at the 2025 SEA Games, host Thailand unexpectedly issued a rule prohibiting teams from using naturalized players - according to FIBA ​​standards - to participate in the 5x5 event.

Accordingly, although the two Truong sisters both have Vietnamese passports, they were not granted passports before the age of 16, so they are classified as naturalized players and cannot register for the 5x5 event.

Vietnamese basketball faces difficulties at SEA Games 2025 - Photo: NGUYEN KHOI

The Philippine newspaper Fastbreak commented: "Thailand limits the use of naturalized players in SEA Games basketball, to ensure fairness after many controversies in previous SEA Games."

However, the basketball teams of Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam were not happy, because besides Vietnam, the two basketball teams mentioned above used at least 2-3 naturalized players in the 5x5 squad that participated in previous SEA Games.

Although not allowed to compete in the 5x5 event, the two sisters Thao My - Thao Vy still participated in the 3x3 event, where they created a miracle at the 2023 SEA Games. Host Thailand does not have strict regulations on naturalization in this event.

In basketball, the 5x5 event is truly the traditional playground, the arena of professional sports. In this event, the Philippines dominates the men's playground, winning 19/22 gold medals in the history of the SEA Games.

In the women's arena, Malaysia used to dominate in the past, before losing to the Philippines and Indonesia in the most recent SEA Games.

Meanwhile, the 3x3 event has only appeared in the last 3 SEA Games. This is considered a content created to encourage the development of basketball in many countries, including Vietnam.

Thanks to the brilliant performance of the two sisters Thao My - Thao Vy, the Vietnamese women's 3x3 basketball team won the gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games and the silver medal at the 2021 SEA Games (held in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/2-nguoi-hung-bong-ro-viet-nam-bi-lam-kho-o-sea-games-2025-20251130112337994.htm