Central Vietnam football 'sighs'

Never before has football in Central Vietnam been as disheartened as this year, witnessing its representatives struggling in both the V-League and the First Division...

Binh Dinh (left) has been relegated, whileSHB Da Nang (right) will play in the play-offs - Photo: VPF

V-League runner-up Quy Nhon Binh Dinh was relegated. Former champion Quang Nam only escaped relegation at the last minute, sending another former champion, SHB Da Nang, to a play-off for survival in the V-League. In the First Division, Hue FC was also relegated.

Too much sadness

Hue FC was the runner-up in the 2002 National Cup and played in the V-League for many years before being relegated in 2007. Limited funding forced Hue FC to struggle in the First Division, even dropping to the Second Division in 2012. Now, Hue football is once again playing in the Second Division after 12 years in the First Division.

For those who love Hue football, it's truly a sad news. But looking at the team's capabilities, relegation was inevitable. Lacking the funds to retain talented players, Hue FC had to promote 12 U19 players to the first team, resulting in a young squad (average age just over 21) severely lacking experience.

In 20 matches in the 2024-2025 First Division, Hue only won 4, drew 4, and lost 12, being relegated one round early. Previously, Hue FC only needed two years in the Second Division to regain promotion to the First Division in 2014. This time, it's difficult to predict how long it will take for Hue football to return to professional football, as funding remains the biggest obstacle.

Similarly, Quy Nhon Binh Dinh FC (Binh Dinh) also got relegated. But the pain for Binh Dinh FC is even greater, as they were the reigning runners-up and had once enjoyed great wealth after earning promotion back to the V-League in 2021. At that time, Binh Dinh received a sponsorship of 300 billion VND from a large local enterprise for three years. However, due to a lack of a clear strategy, the "dark horse" has now returned to the First Division.

Despite securing a playoff spot against First Division runner-up Truong Tuoi Binh Phuoc, SHB Da Nang cannot yet celebrate. A defeat in the upcoming playoff would see them relegated for the second time in three seasons.

Even if SHB Da Nang avoids relegation, football in Central Vietnam will still only be able to sigh after the lackluster performances they've shown this season.

What does the future hold for football in Central Vietnam?

While Hue FC's failure stemmed from its inability to find sponsors to support its development, Binh Dinh FC's failure originated from a lack of a well-structured development strategy.

The massive budget of 300 billion VND for three years starting from V-League 2021 has been spent by the team after only two seasons. Many players were bought at high prices but were not used much due to recurring injuries or had gradually passed the peak of their careers.

If that money had been spent effectively and more invested in youth training, Binh Dinh might not be in its current predicament, with its sponsor facing financial difficulties and being forced to sell 16 key players right before the 2024-2025 season.

Relegation is a sad thing, but the Binh Dinh players are even more uncertain about their future and the team's prospects after Binh Dinh province merged with Gia Lai.

Quang Nam and Da Nang will also merge provinces. Whether or not the teams merge will depend significantly on the fate of SHB Da Nang FC: whether they can remain in the V-League. If they do, SHB Da Nang FC will need to make many changes to avoid the disappointment of facing relegation twice in three seasons.

The same goes for Quang Nam FC! Since winning the V-League in 2017, the team from Quang Nam has been relegated in 2020. Returning to the V-League in the 2023-2024 season, they've only been concerned with avoiding relegation.

Without change, football in Central Vietnam will continue to be nothing but a source of disappointment in the future.

It's a sad situation for Khánh Hòa football!

Khánh Hòa FC was relegated after the 2023-2024 V-League season. Before fans could even recover from the disappointment of their team being relegated to the First Division for the 2024-2025 season, Khánh Hòa received further bad news. Two former coaches, Đặng Đạo and Nguyễn Tý, from the Khánh Hòa Provincial Sports Technical Training Center, were indicted and temporarily detained at the end of May for investigation into the crime of abusing their positions and power to misappropriate assets.

According to the investigation results, from 2021 to 2024, Mr. Dao and Mr. Ty colluded to embezzle a total of more than 3.2 billion VND. This included causing damage to the state budget of over 500 million VND and damage to athletes of over 2.7 billion VND.

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NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bong-da-mien-trung-tho-dai-20250625105155409.htm