A series of V-League clubs have made a hot proposal: Allow 4 foreign players to play on the field, VPF 'called' VFF to ask

How is the current situation of V-League?

V-League teams believe that increasing the number of foreign players playing at the same time will help teams optimize player resources, avoid waste, and contribute to improving the quality and attractiveness of matches.

"After studying the contents of the draft regulations, we respectfully request the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF); Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) to consider allowing a maximum of 4 foreign players to play on the field at the same time during a match, in order to optimize player resources, avoid waste; and at the same time improve the quality and increase the attractiveness of the match," the document stated.

This proposal comes from the reality of last season, when a club (for example Nam Dinh ) signed contracts with 7-8 foreign players but was only allowed to register 5 players in the V-League arena, and only 3 players were allowed to play on the field at the same time. Meanwhile, the rest were only used in the AFC Champions League Two. This led to an imbalance between the two fronts: cohesiveness in the domestic league, but instability in the Asian arena when having to rotate personnel.

Một loạt CLB V-League đề xuất nóng: Cho 4 ngoại binh thi đấu trên sân, VPF ‘alo’ hỏi VFF- Ảnh 1. — Nam Dinh Club has just won the V-League championship for the second consecutive time.

Clubs expect that the relaxation of foreign player regulations will create better conditions for Vietnamese representatives to compete in the AFC Champions League Two or the Southeast Asian Cup C1, where many regional opponents are allowed to register and use a larger number of foreign players.

According to the draft regulations of V-League 2025 - 2026, currently only teams participating in the Asian Cup or Southeast Asian Cup C1 are allowed to register 7 foreign players, use 4 players per match and a maximum of 3 players on the field at the same time. Meanwhile, teams only competing domestically will be limited to registering 4 foreign players, 3 players on the field at the same time.

However, the regional trend is changing. Some Southeast Asian national championships such as the Thai League or the Malaysia Super League allow the registration of 7-12 foreign players and can use up to 5 players on the field at the same time. Although each football country has its own conditions and development strategies, the proposals of Vietnamese clubs reflect the desire to improve the quality of competition, closer to international standards.

Clubs used to demand otherwise!

At the conference to deploy preparations for organizing the national professional football tournaments 2025 - 2026 on the afternoon of March 10, Hai Phong Club proposed to increase the number of foreign players that the club can register in the list of participating tournaments 2025 - 2026. Specifically, clubs participating in V-League can register a maximum of 4 foreign players in the list of participating tournaments and register a maximum of 3 foreign players to compete in matches.

On March 27, the Resolution of the 8th VFF Executive Committee Conference, term IX (term 2022 - 2026) agreed to adjust the number of foreign players in national professional football tournaments in 2025 - 2026.

In V-League from the 2025 - 2026 season: 1/Clubs participating in club football tournaments of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) are allowed to register a maximum of 7 foreign players in the tournament.

2/Other clubs are allowed to register a maximum of 4 foreign players in the tournament.

3/During the match, all participating clubs are allowed to register a maximum of 4 foreign players, with a maximum of 3 foreign players allowed to play on the field at all times of the match.

However, when the 2025-2026 season was about to start in August 2025, the teams changed their minds. VPF received 7 official dispatches from the teams: Hanoi Police, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Nam Dinh, Ha Tinh, The Cong Viettel , Da Nang proposing that the clubs be allowed to register a maximum of 4 foreign players in the list of participants in both the V-League and the National Cup in the 2025-2026 season, and at the same time use a maximum of 4 foreign players on the field at all times of the match.

VPF has compiled the club's proposals and will send a report to VFF today, July 9, for consideration and direction.

This proposal may be supported by VFF (registering 4 foreign players, and 4 foreign players appearing on the field at the same time in each match). If approved, this will be a significant change that contributes to increasing the competitiveness of Vietnamese clubs.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/v-league-clb-nam-dinh-de-xuat-tang-so-ngoai-binh-cung-thi-dau-tren-san-185250709105715854.htm