"Sensitive" time in V-League 2024-2025

The final rounds of the V-League are always a sensitive time, when teams have to fight for every precious point to avoid falling into the bottom group of the rankings.

Sportsmanship must come first.

After 22 rounds, defending champion Nam Dinh is still firmly at the top of the table with a 5-point gap over the chasing group. The relegation race is becoming more dramatic, as the bottom 8 teams are still at risk of receiving a direct relegation spot.

V-League 2024-2025 is expected to be exciting in the sprint stage because the opportunity to enter the top 3 to win the title is still "wide open" for the 6 teams temporarily leading.

In addition, the "owners" of teams that are not sure of staying in the league are also starting to give out bonuses beyond the limit to create a "doping" dose for players to compete and complete the goal - a very familiar image in Vietnam's top tournament. However, if not strictly controlled, these bonuses can lead to unpredictable consequences, easily leading to negative consequences in football.

The history of the tournament has seen many cases where teams have "resigned" to the sprint stage, leading to underperforming, showing signs of giving up and giving up points. This has caused the professional playing field to become "unprofessional", the quality of the game has decreased, and it is no longer attractive to viewers.

After the 22nd round, Coach Nguyen Thanh Cong expressed his opinion that football competition needs fairness and transparency to increase professionalism and create attractiveness for the tournament. Therefore, he advised his players to enter the field with determination, enthusiasm and dedication to achieve the best results.

The Ha Tinh Club strategist shared: "No one has the right to tarnish the efforts of the players. In a fierce playground like V-League, the champion or relegation team needs to show their worthiness and convince the audience. Players and coaches all have their own professionalism and professional ethics, so if there are wrong thoughts and actions, there will be no fairness in the tournament."

In addition, the fact that teams are losing their players due to injury or losing motivation to compete at the end of the season is also part of the reason why V-League stands are increasingly "picky" about spectators.

The final rounds of the V-League will be monitored closely to ensure the quality and professionalism of the tournament. Photo: VPF

Tight quality control

In the context that the season is entering a decisive stage with high competition, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) requires relevant units to enhance their sense of responsibility, ensure organization and expertise to create fairness and transparency, helping the tournament to reach its final destination successfully.

Accordingly, VPF Company needs to continue to strengthen supervision and closely evaluate the situation of each match, promptly instruct in writing to the tournament participants on organization, ensuring security, safety and medical conditions in accordance with the regulations of the Tournament Charter and Professional Football Regulations.

Supervisors and referees must play their roles to the fullest, manage matches fairly and in accordance with the law, and strictly handle unsportsmanlike conduct. Referees at matches using VAR technology must coordinate closely to ensure accurate and convincing decisions.

This season, VAR has been applied to 100% of matches, to ensure fairness and accuracy in refereeing decisions. However, in reality, controversies still occur, even in situations where VAR intervenes. There have been strong, even excessive reactions from players, coaches and team leaders to refereeing decisions.

To enhance objectivity, the organizing committee invited foreign referees to officiate in the final rounds. This is an effort to reduce pressure and suspicion of bias, while ensuring transparency for the tournament.

Fans expect the final rounds of the V-League to be exciting, dramatic and fair matches, where sportsmanship is put first. Only then will the V-League truly become a professional, trustworthy playground and attract the attention of a large audience.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/thoi-diem-nhay-cam-tai-v-league-2024-2025-196250514203802994.htm