When the V-League's 'launching pad' is shaky

The V-League's launching pad, the First Division, is likely to not have enough teams to compete as expected, once again greatly affecting the development plan of Vietnamese football.

Fragile launch pad

The 2025 National First Division is set to officially kick off in more than a month (September 19), but at present, the risk that the tournament will not be able to ensure 14 participating teams as planned is gradually becoming a reality.

First, PVF-CAND Club was promoted to V-League instead of Quang Nam Club, making the First Division only have 13 teams, instead of 14 as originally planned.

PVF-CAND (red shirt) promoted to V-League, Dong Nai likely won't participate, causing the First Division to fail its plan

But if it stops at 13, it is still a good thing for the First Division in the 2025/26 season, which is expected a lot when VPF and VFF agree to let clubs use 1 foreign player to increase quality.

However, up to now, there is a lot of information that a series of clubs including teams that have a foothold in the previous season or rookies such as Dong Nai, Khanh Hoa, Long An , Hoa Binh, Van Hien University are facing the risk of not being able to participate for many reasons, the biggest of which is funding.

In the worst case scenario, the First Division may only have about 9-10 teams participating in the 2025/26 season and competing for 2 promotion spots to the V-League.

Consequences for Vietnamese football

The fact that the First Division is at risk of not having enough teams to participate as expected is clearly not just a problem for this tournament, but also reflects the worrying problems that are constantly recurring in the Vietnamese professional football system.

Considered a direct "gateway" to provide human resources, the club competes in the V-League, so once the First Division is exhausted, not attractive enough, lacking competition, the V-League will certainly be greatly affected.

And certainly has a big impact on V-League

If Vietnamese football wants to develop, it cannot only focus on the "top of the pyramid" which is the national team or V-League, but needs to build a solid foundation from the lower leagues.

The tournament is considered a "launching pad" for the V-League, which is recognized by VPF and VFF as a vital and especially important part in the development of Vietnamese football, but is currently at great risk of collapse, which is truly regrettable.

And when the First Division returns with the number of participating teams sometimes much less than many amateur tournaments, the glitz from the V-League (with a series of million-dollar and billion-dollar contracts) probably cannot help Vietnamese football go on the right path with the goal of participating in the World Cup.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/khi-be-phong-cua-v-league-chong-chenh-2429048.html