What did the Football Association of Thailand say when it met with the VFF to apologize for misusing the Vietnamese national flag?

(Dan Tri) - The homepage of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) said that the leader of this agency went to Hanoi to apologize to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) after the incident of misusing the Vietnamese national flag.

After the serious incident of mistakenly using the Vietnamese national flag instead of the Chinese national flag in the draw ceremony for the Southeast Asian U19 and U16 futsal tournament, the Football Association of Thailand sent Vice President Adisak Benjasiriwan to Vietnam on the afternoon of October 29 to meet directly and apologize to the VFF and the Vietnamese people.

FAT Vice President, Adisak Benjasiriwan, took a photo with VFF President, Tran Quoc Tuan, and AFF General Secretary, Winston Lee (Photo: FAT).

After the working session of the FAT delegation with the VFF leaders, the Thai football governing body issued a notice: “The FAT Vice President in charge of Futsal and Beach Soccer, Mr. Adisak Benjasiriwan, personally apologized to the VFF in Hanoi on the afternoon of October 29, after the incident of mistakenly displaying the Vietnamese national flag during the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 Futsal Championship held on October 28.

Immediately after the incident, FAT sent a letter of apology to both VFF and the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF). At the same time, FAT President Nualphan Lamsam (also known as Madam Pang) also authorized Mr. Adisak Benjasiriwan to directly go to Vietnam to express his apology once again, to show goodwill and sincerity. He affirmed that this incident was entirely a personal error, with no intention of offending Vietnam or the Vietnamese people.

During the meeting, Mr. Adisak Benjasiriwan met and discussed with VFF President, Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan and other VFF leaders. The meeting was also witnessed by AFF Secretary General, Winston Lee.

The discussion took place in a positive and friendly atmosphere. VFF acknowledged and understood that this was an unexpected incident, and FAT pledged to prevent similar situations from happening in the future, especially when Thailand takes on the role of host of international tournaments.

In the announcement on its homepage, VFF acknowledged FAT’s sincere apology and highly appreciated the proactive, open-minded, and respectful spirit that Thai football demonstrated. VFF considered this a serious mistake and affirmed that this was a profound lesson in the preparation and organization of international events, aiming to improve the professionalism of the AFF competition system.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/ldbd-thai-lan-noi-gi-khi-gap-go-vff-xin-loi-vi-dung-sai-quoc-ky-viet-nam-20251030002006291.htm