Viettel The Cong suffers because My Dinh is "obsessed" with live shows

My Dinh Stadium continuously organizes live shows

According to the schedule, the match between The Cong Viettel and Ho Chi Minh City Club will take place at 5pm on June 22. The match, which is part of the final round of the V.League, will take place just one day after My Dinh Stadium hosted a live show by famous singer G-Dragon. Last weekend, My Dinh was the venue for another famous music event.

My Dinh Stadium hosts too many music events, affecting The Cong Viettel's schedule.

Organizing two big live shows in a row within just over a month makes the grass of My Dinh Stadium unable to be guaranteed. Previously, because of two music nights at the end of October, this stadium also lost the right to host matches at the AFF Cup 2024 of the Vietnam National Team. Not only that, My Dinh grass has become a "trap" that makes every team afraid to step in. Head coaches do not hesitate to criticize because the quality of the grass is too poor at the stadium, which is classified as a national standard.

Back to the story of The Cong Viettel vs. TP.HCM in round 26 of V.League 2024/25. My Dinh Stadium will not be able to host this match. More importantly, the army team cannot borrow Hang Day Stadium like the "firefighting" rounds throughout this year's season. Simply because at the same time as The Cong Viettel vs. TP.HCM, Hanoi Police will use Hang Day Stadium to host Hai Phong. Invisibly, the army team has fallen into a "homeless" situation, not finding a home field to host this match.

As mentioned above, the fact that The Cong Viettel struggled with My Dinh Stadium in the final round of V.League was just the last straw, after the struggles and hardships that this club had to go through. Going back to 1 year ago. According to AFC's request, a stadium cannot have more than two clubs registered as hosts in a professional tournament. One of the three teams including The Cong Viettel, Hanoi and Hanoi Police will have to leave Hang Day Stadium, instead of the situation of "living together" like in the 2023 and 2023/24 seasons.

In July 2024, the Hanoi People's Committee officially confirmed that only Hanoi FC and Hanoi Police are allowed to maintain the right to host at Hang Day. The Cong Viettel, despite being one of the most traditional football teams in Vietnam, was forced to leave its familiar "headquarters".

In August 2024, The Cong Viettel officially registered My Dinh Stadium as their home stadium. However, instead of the stability needed to serve professional competition, the army team continuously fell into a makeshift state. Even though the schedule for the entire season was announced early by VPF, The Cong Viettel was still in a passive situation. Huu Thang and his teammates had to depend on the schedule of... live shows and performing arts activities at My Dinh Stadium.

The misery of "renting a house"

After the first two matches at My Dinh against Hanoi and Binh Dinh, The Cong Viettel began to fall into a precarious situation. In the third match at home on October 25, 2024, the team had to borrow Hang Day to play against Binh Duong because My Dinh Stadium was hosting an event. In the fourth match at home, The Cong Viettel returned to My Dinh to host Hong Linh Ha Tinh. But the joy did not last long. In the 8th round, coach Nguyen Huu Thang and his team (then still leading the team) had to return to Hang Day to play against Thanh Hoa. The reason was because My Dinh was busy organizing 2 famous concert nights.

The most peaceful period probably lasted only from mid-January to early April 2025, when the army team was allowed to play 6 consecutive matches at My Dinh. However, this was also the time when the pitch began to seriously deteriorate. As a result, serious injuries occurred to the players. These include central defender Pham Ly Duc (HAGL) and Vu Tien Long (Quang Nam). After having problems in the match against The Cong Viettel, up to now, the two players mentioned above have not been able to return to the field.

Viettel The Cong Club is struggling to play at home.

At the end of April, because My Dinh was once again busy organizing an event, The Cong Viettel returned to Hang Day. They played against Song Lam Nghe An and Da Nang on this field. It is expected that the club, led by coach Velizar Popov, will play against Hai Phong, also at Hang Day. It should be added that despite the support of VPF and the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, The Cong Viettel's match organization still encountered numerous obstacles.

Typically, in the match against SLNA, the army team was not allowed to use some items such as standard changing rooms, LED systems or corner lighting. The reason came from the Hanoi Police Club refusing to support. This forced The Cong Viettel to grit their teeth and rent and install their own equipment to serve the organization of the match.

My Dinh Stadium is a national asset, managed by the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports. Renting it out to organize music and other sports events is not wrong, and even helps increase revenue and create conditions for cultural promotion. However, when the rental directly affects professional football activities, which have specific schedules and are organized by a separate operating system, it is an issue that needs to be reconsidered.

Professional football requires stability, not only in terms of the field but also in terms of the playing environment, organization and player psychology. A team cannot compete with the mindset of “practice on field A this morning, play on field B tomorrow afternoon”, especially when they are competing for important positions in the rankings.

Waiting for Viettel The Cong to build its own stadium

The story of The Cong Viettel not being able to play at home due to G-Dragon’s live show is just the “last straw” for a reality that has lasted for a whole year. Professional football cannot operate in a temporary, passive and dependent manner. A team like The Cong Viettel, with its tradition, strength and large fan base, needs to be treated properly, fairly and worthy of their position.

According to the information, the army team will plan to build a separate stadium, meeting the standards of V.League and Asian tournaments. This stadium has a capacity of about 20,000 seats, located at My Dinh. This helps The Cong Viettel attract a large number of fans when playing at home in V.League.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/the-thao/the-cong-viettel-kho-so-vi-my-dinh-me-mai-liveshow-i768519/