Mr. Tran Anh Tu stays at VFF, continues to make his mark on Vietnamese football?

It is highly likely that Mr. Tran Anh Tu will agree to stay at the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF), after receiving persuasion from the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Football Federation and the Board of Directors of VPF Company.

Mr. Tran Anh Tu in the eyes of someone who used to sit in the same position

After Mr. Tran Anh Tu announced his decision to withdraw from his position as Vice President of VFF Professional Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Directors of VPF, domestic football experts said that finding a replacement for Mr. Tu is not simple.

Mr. Tran Anh Tu agreed to stay at VFF and VPF?

Photo: HOANG QUAN

Former VFF Vice President Duong Vu Lam commented: "The position of Vice President in charge of expertise is the position that bears the most pressure among the VFF Vice Presidents, because the Vice President in charge of expertise is almost at the forefront of all the successes and failures of the Vietnamese teams in international tournaments. Once Mr. Tran Anh Tu sits in the position of Vice President of VFF expertise and the Vietnamese team wins the AFF Cup 2024 during his term, it means that Mr. Tran Anh Tu works very effectively.

As for the position of VPF president, finding a replacement is even more difficult. The head of VPF must meet the following basic factors: first, he must be good at making money, because domestic professional football tournaments need a lot of money to operate. Second, the VPF president must have experience in football management. Third, the head of VPF must be completely neutral with domestic professional football clubs. Regarding these factors, Mr. Tran Anh Tu has all of them, while many other figures mostly lack one or several of the three basic factors mentioned above.

From the above analysis, it can be seen that finding a replacement for Mr. Tran Anh Tu in the position of Vice President of VFF and President of VPF, if Mr. Tu withdraws, is not something that can be done immediately. At the same time, this search will take a lot of time.

Therefore, if Mr. Tran Anh Tu agrees to stay with VFF and VPF, at least until the end of the current term (lasting until 2026), it will help the Vietnamese football management apparatus not fall into a situation where there is a large gap in personnel.

Important goals of VFF and VPF

Many of the immediate tasks of domestic football need professional guidance in the coming time, for example, the 33rd SEA Games campaign taking place at the end of this year, the qualifying round and possibly the final round (VCK) of the 2026 U.23 Asia, the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying round, the 2026 AFF Cup... Domestic football cannot lack someone directly in charge of professional matters to help the national teams stay on the right track during this time, related to the above tournaments.

Mr. Tu is the head of the Vietnamese team that won the AFF Cup 2024.

Photo: NGOC LINH

Not to mention international tournaments involving national women's football teams and futsal teams. These are all teams with high goals in the near future.

As for the domestic arena, better orientation for the V-League, plans for clubs to operate more professionally, train youth more systematically, make money more effectively... are also things that require the management role of VPF and the VPF President. Those things will be solved better if VPF is still managed by a person who is both familiar with the job and good at both football management and business administration like Mr. Tran Anh Tu.

In general, when Mr. Tu agreed to stay with VFF and VPF, it can be considered a very important goal of the VFF Executive Committee and VPF Board of Directors in the current period. They are the ones who in the past few days have persuaded Mr. Tu to continue his current job, at least until the end of the 9th term of VFF.