Thai Football Federation apologizes to Vietnam Football Federation over wrong national flag

On the afternoon of October 29, at the headquarters of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), on behalf of the President of the Football Federation of Thailand (Ms. Nualphan Lamsam), the working delegation of the Football Federation of Thailand (FAT) led by Vice President Adisak Benjasiriwan had a working session and explained to the leaders of the VFF about the incident of incorrectly displaying the Vietnamese national flag at the drawing ceremony of the 2025 Southeast Asian U16 and U19 Futsal Championship. The meeting was witnessed by the General Secretary of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) - Mr. Winston Lee.

Vietnam's national flag displayed incorrectly at the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 & U16 Futsal Championship. Screenshot

Accordingly, at the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U16 and U19 Futsal Championships held by the Football Association of Thailand on the afternoon of October 28 in Bangkok (Thailand), the Chinese flag was displayed instead of the Vietnamese flag on the Vietnam team's draw. In a document sent to the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF), VFF stated its view that this serious incident could have consequences affecting Vietnam's image and negatively impact the solidarity of the Southeast Asian community. On the evening of October 28, VFF sent an official document to AFF as well as FAT protesting and requesting clarification on this matter.

At the working session on the afternoon of October 29, Vice President Adisak Benjasiriwan read the official apology letter from the President of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) to the Vietnam Football Federation. In the letter, the President of the FAT expressed his deep regret and sincere apology for the unfortunate incident related to the misplacement of the Vietnamese national flag during the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 Men's Futsal Championship.

The President of the Football Association of Thailand affirmed: “We are fully aware of the seriousness of this mistake and take full responsibility for the incident that occurred. The Football Association of Thailand has immediately taken corrective measures, reviewed and tightened the event organization process, to ensure that similar mistakes will not recur.”

The letter stressed: “The Football Association of Thailand would like to sincerely apologize to the Vietnam Football Federation, the ASEAN Football Federation and all relevant parties for this incident. We appreciate your continued sympathy and support, and affirm our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and respect in all AFF events hosted by Thailand.”

Vice President of the Football Association of Thailand delivered the apology letter from the Football Association of Thailand to President of the Vietnam Football Federation Tran Quoc Tuan (right). Photo: VFF

On the evening of October 28, the official fanpage of the Football Federation of Thailand also posted a press release apologizing to the Vietnam Football Federation and Vietnamese fans. The release stated: “The Football Federation of Thailand sincerely hopes that the Vietnam Football Federation and the Vietnamese people will accept our apology and sympathize with this unintentional error – a human error, completely without the intention of disrespecting the country of Vietnam. This is an important lesson for us to be more careful and serious in all organizational processes, in order to maintain the highest standards that the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) expects from us as the host country.”

On the side of the Vietnam Football Federation, we acknowledge the sincere apology of the Football Federation of Thailand and highly appreciate the proactive, open-minded and respectful spirit of the Thai Football Federation. The Vietnam Football Federation considers this a serious mistake and affirms that this is a profound lesson in the preparation and organization of international events, aiming to improve the professionalism in the competition system of the Southeast Asian Football Federation.

Representatives of the Football Association of Thailand pledged not to let similar mistakes happen in the future, and expressed their desire to continue to maintain a cooperative relationship and closely coordinate with the Vietnam Football Association in activities to develop football in the Southeast Asian region to become increasingly professional and sustainable.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/lien-doan-bong-da-thai-lan-xin-loi-lien-doan-bong-da-viet-nam-vu-sai-quoc-ky-721482.html