President Madam Pang apologizes to VFF for the very serious national flag mistake

(Dan Tri) - Immediately after the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) spoke up about the very serious national flag mistake in the draw ceremony for the Southeast Asian U19 futsal tournament, tonight the Thai Football Federation apologized to the VFF.

This evening (October 28), the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), represented by President Nualphan Lamsam (commonly known as Madam Pang), sent a letter of apology to the VFF, regarding the incident of misreading the national flag during the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 futsal tournament.

According to information from VFF, in the apology letter, Madam Pang wrote: “On behalf of FAT, I would like to express my deep regret and most sincere apology for the unfortunate incident related to the misplacement of the Vietnamese national flag in the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 Futsal Championship, held in Thailand on October 28.”

Madam Pang and FAT apologize to VFF and Vietnamese football (Photo: FAT).

“This does not at all reflect the respect and appreciation that FAT has for all its member associations and their national symbols. We are fully aware of the seriousness of this error and take full responsibility for the negligence that occurred.

FAT would like to sincerely apologize to VFF, the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) and all relevant parties for this incident," Madam Pang added in the apology letter sent to VFF.

The head of Thailand's football governing body affirmed that the FAT has immediately taken corrective measures, reviewed and strengthened the event organization process, to ensure that such mistakes will never happen again.

Madam Pang herself also expressed hope to have the opportunity to directly apologize to VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan in the near future.

Madam Pang expressed: “The Football Association of Thailand and I personally deeply appreciate the understanding and continuous support of VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan, and would like to reaffirm our firm commitment to maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and respect in all AFF events hosted by FAT.”

Earlier this afternoon, at the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 futsal tournament in Thailand, a serious mistake occurred. When the name of the Vietnam U19 futsal team appeared, the host organizing committee mistakenly displayed the image of the Chinese flag.

Almost immediately, the Vietnam Football Federation reacted strongly. VFF sent a letter of protest to AFF and FAT.

VFF expressed its view that this mistake could harm Vietnam's image and negatively affect regional unity, calling on AFF to clarify the cause and take stricter measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

By the evening of the same day, the Thai Football Federation had to publicly apologize to VFF and Vietnamese football.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chu-tich-madam-pang-xin-loi-vff-ve-vu-nham-quoc-ky-rat-nghiem-trong-20251028212627519.htm