Vietnamese football in chaos

The new 2025-2026 season is about to begin, but the V-League is facing the withdrawal of Quang Nam Club. The first division is even more chaotic as many clubs are uncertain of survival.

Quang Nam Club in a 1-1 draw with SHB Da Nang at the 2025 Thien Long Friendly Tournament - Photo: THIEN LONG

Vietnam's football leaders have never been in such a mess when so many teams are in precarious situations.

What is the plan for V-League?

Quang Nam players received a notice of disbandment and will not participate in the V-League 2025 - 2026 from the afternoon of July 21. The team also stopped training and will not continue to participate in the Thien Long 2025 Friendly Tournament held at Tam Ky home stadium, despite having just drawn 1-1 with SHB Da Nang in the opening match.

On July 22, Quang Nam Club said it had proposed two options to the team. In the option of keeping the team, Quang Nam Club proposed that the city's leaders direct the search and invite local businesses to sponsor the team to continue competing in the V-League. In the event that there is no new sponsor, Quang Nam Club proposed to transfer all members to SHB Da Nang Club.

After receiving instructions from the People's Committee of Da Nang City, Quang Nam Club reported to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) about the fate of the team.

This makes VFF and VPF "sit on fire" when the opening day of the tournament (August 15) is approaching. In case Quang Nam Club is dissolved, V-League 2025 - 2026 will only have 13 teams and will cause the organization plan to be disrupted. Especially when VPF has drawn lots to arrange the match schedule on July 14.

If Quang Nam FC withdraws, VPF will have to consider promoting a qualified team to participate or keeping the 13 teams and ask for the opinion of the VFF executive board. But choosing a team to replace Quang Nam FC is not a simple matter.

There are opinions that the position should be given to Truong Tuoi Binh Phuoc Club (most likely to be renamed Truong Tuoi Dong Nai) - runner-up of the 2024 - 2025 First Division and just lost 0-2 to SHB Da Nang in the play-off match for the right to play in the 2025 - 2026 V-League.

But there are also opinions that the position should be given to Quy Nhon Binh Dinh Club - the team that was relegated at the end of the 2024 - 2025 season.

The first division is in trouble again.

Over the past five years, the First Division has never been without its ups and downs, with clubs withdrawing every season. Now a series of clubs are leaving open the possibility of participating in the 2025-2026 season, causing VFF and VPF another headache after not having time to celebrate the return of 14 clubs to the First Division after 14 years.

After merging Binh Phuoc province into Dong Nai, the leaders of Dong Nai province in a meeting with Truong Tuoi Binh Phuoc Club on July 14 proposed that the team take over Dong Nai Club to achieve good results in the future. This means that Dong Nai Club will be abolished and only wait for an official announcement in the near future. The old force of Dong Nai Club is also not much when the players and coaches have all expired their contracts after the end of the season.

Khanh Hoa Club is also not sure to compete in the 2025 - 2026 First Division because Khanh Viet Corporation (Khatoco) - the main sponsor of the team recently sent a document to return the team to the province to find another sponsor.

The three clubs Long An, Dong Thap, and Tre TP.HCM are also uncertain. Last season, Long An registered to participate in the First Division at the last minute after receiving financial support from a bank and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club supporting players.

But after the end of last season, the two sides parted ways, and Long An Club now has only a few local players. The team also doesn’t know where to find the funds to participate in the tournament and whether to change its name after Long An province merged with Tay Ninh province - where the second-tier team is located.

Ho Chi Minh City Youth Club also parted ways with its members after the season ended. Coach Tran Duy Quang said that he and the players only signed contracts for one season. And until now, the club leadership has not said anything about whether they will continue to cooperate with each other or not.

While many teams have focused on training for the new season, Dong Thap Club had to postpone the meeting date to early August because it was unclear how the team would be funded. Last season, the team was sponsored by Van Hien University.

But Van Hien University also has a team that has just won promotion to the first division this season. Therefore, the sponsorship story needs to be discussed further. And this puts coach Phan Thanh Binh and his team in a waiting position.

Talking to VFF and VPF, both said they have not received official documents from Quang Nam Club or other clubs in the First Division, so they cannot give specific answers about the options if any team withdraws.

Regarding VPF, this unit said that the options regarding the number of participating teams or changes to the match schedule are all prepared by the professional department to avoid being passive. Importantly, after receiving the official document from the club, VPF will report to ask for opinions from VFF before officially announcing.

ORIGINAL

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bong-da-viet-roi-boi-20250723080255328.htm