Expectations from the new policy

Recently, Decree No. 349/2025/ND-CP, issued by the Government on December 30, 2025, clearly stipulates specific policies for members of sports teams participating in concentrated training and competitions.

This decree is expected to soon address the shortcomings in the placement of sports doctors and technical support teams for athletes' recovery.

Having medical staff present throughout training and competition will help athletes improve their performance and minimize injuries. Photo: Bui Luong

A major "gap" in training.

By the end of 2025, in their statements, sports leaders from the Department of Physical Education and Sports to local authorities frankly acknowledged that the human resources of sports doctors and rehabilitation technicians for athletes in national and local teams were still insufficient and weak. Apart from football teams and some teams with socialized resources, most other teams only have doctors and rehabilitation technicians when participating in international sports events. Meanwhile, during the long training period before the competition – one of the times with the highest risk of injury – athletes lack the regular support of medical professionals.

According to sports doctor Pham Manh Hung, to ensure effective training and minimize risks, each national team needs at least one doctor and one technician to closely monitor the entire training process, instead of only appearing when entering competition. However, due to the lack of specific state regulations on the placement of doctors and medical technicians in national teams, even when needed, implementation faces many difficulties. In reality, national teams mainly rely on the resources of sports federations to hire doctors and technicians for support. Furthermore, finding a medical team with genuine expertise in high-performance sports is not easy. In some sports such as athletics and boxing, federations are forced to resort to sending athletes outside for recovery after training.

When preparing for major tournaments, the Vietnamese Sports Delegation still relies on coordination with the Vietnam Sports Hospital to increase the number of doctors and physiotherapists for athletes training at the centers, or to bring athletes back to the hospital for treatment and rehabilitation according to the severity of their injuries. Meanwhile, national training centers are facing a serious shortage of medical personnel. In some centers, only a dozen or so medical staff members have to take care of nearly 1,000 athletes from various national teams. This reality makes it difficult to monitor injuries, assess training load, and organize recovery after each training session optimally.

When national teams lack mechanisms to ensure sufficient medical staff, it becomes even more difficult for local areas to achieve breakthroughs. For example, Hanoi's sports sector, despite training nearly 2,000 athletes, has only about a dozen medical personnel. In this context, assigning doctors and technicians to regularly accompany the teams is almost impossible.

Will there be a turning point?

After clearly identifying the shortage of medical staff in national teams, the sports sector advised including this issue in the draft document adjusting the regime and policies for members of sports teams. Accordingly, Decree No. 349/2025/ND-CP issued by the Government on December 30, 2025, on policies for members of sports teams participating in concentrated training and competition, officially includes national team medical staff as eligible for benefits.

According to Decree No. 349/2025/ND-CP, those eligible for the benefit include medical staff (doctors, technicians) belonging to the national and youth national teams, regardless of whether they receive salaries from the state budget or not. Specifically, medical staff not receiving salaries from the state budget will be paid equivalent salaries. Doctors will receive the salary of a national team coach, and technical staff will receive the salary of an athlete. According to current regulations, the daily wage for a national team coach is 750,000 VND/person/day, while for a national team athlete it is 550,000 VND/person/day. For medical staff currently receiving salaries from the state budget, their current salary will remain unchanged, and any difference below the stipulated amount will be compensated.

From February 15, 2026, when Decree 349/2025/ND-CP officially comes into effect, many national teams have already planned to propose doctors and medical staff to participate in training throughout 2026. Mr. Ta Dinh Duc, head of the wrestling department (Vietnam Sports Department), informed that he is coordinating with relevant units to secure medical staff for the national wrestling team when they begin training in early February. In 2026, the Vietnamese wrestling team will participate in the 2026 Asian Games and simultaneously prepare for the 2028 Olympic Games. With the addition of medical staff to the team, Mr. Ta Dinh Duc believes that the team's performance will significantly improve in the coming time.

In Hanoi, Mr. Dao Quoc Thang, Head of the Sports Management Department (Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports), also stated that, based on the new provisions regarding medical staff in Decree No. 349/2025/ND-CP, localities like Hanoi now have a basis to consider hiring medical staff for each sport. This cannot be done overnight, but at least it shows a way forward for Hanoi's sports sector.

A new decree is raising expectations for positive change in an area that has long been a "bottleneck" in Vietnamese sports. The key remains how to implement it most effectively.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/ky-vong-tu-chinh-sach-moi-731218.html