The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism criticized the Department of Sports and Physical Education over the "fee money" issue in the gymnastics team.

Following instructions from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism , the Department of Sports and Physical Education was required to report on the entire incident involving athlete Pham Nhu Phuong of the National Gymnastics Team who accused her coach of collecting "fees" by January 25th. However, to date, the Department of Sports and Physical Education has not reached a final conclusion and has repeatedly postponed the reporting date to the Ministry.

Speaking to the press on February 1st, the Director of the Department of Sports and Physical Education, Dang Ha Viet, said: "The deadline to report to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is January 25th, 2024, but in reality, we have not been able to complete it yet."

The Ministry has criticized and reminded the gymnastics team about the delayed reporting of the incident. However, this issue is very complex and requires thorough review, including clarifying whether the athletes trained or not, and for what purpose they trained...

The case involving athlete Pham Nhu Phuong has not yet reached a final conclusion.

In particular, as athlete Pham Nhu Phuong pointed out, receiving wages without training is a very serious and dangerous issue. Therefore, we have to verify and re-examine all income and expenditure records and attendance records from many years... which takes a lot of time.

To be honest, I and many leaders of the Department of Sports and Physical Education have to work until 8-9 pm constantly to review issues. We can't rush things."

The head of the Department of Sports and Physical Education said that once a final conclusion is reached, the Department will report it to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and also make it widely publicized to the press.

"The Department of Sports and Physical Education affirms that strict action will be taken to ensure a deterrent effect. Vietnamese sports must be positive, providing role models and great motivation for all citizens to contribute," said Mr. Dang Ha Viet.

Previously, after complaining about having to share medal prize money, performance bonuses, and contributions to an "unusual fund," athlete Pham Nhu Phuong accused the two head coaches of the national gymnastics team of recording her attendance on her days off (Saturdays and Sundays) even though she wasn't training. What's more, the athlete still received her training pay but had to give half of it to the coaches to contribute to the team's fund.

Nhu Phuong has not changed her decision to retire.

According to a coach's explanation, the money that athlete Nhu Phuong contributed to the team's fund was for the team's common purposes, specifically visiting sick family members, birthdays, celebrations, funerals, weddings, and other unforeseen expenses.

For the time being, the Department of Sports and Physical Education requires the gymnastics team, as well as other national teams, to immediately abolish any team funds (if any) and not to force athletes to pay money for any reason whatsoever. The Department of Sports and Physical Education also tried to persuade athlete Nhu Phuong to continue training and competing to contribute to Vietnamese sports, but she refused, resolutely deciding to retire at the age of 20.

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