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Every year, when the Vietnamese national teams compete in a Southeast Asian tournament that is not part of the FIFA Days schedule, fans are divided into two opinions. One side supports the achievements of the Vietnamese national team at the AFF Cup or the U22 Vietnam team at the SEA Games. This means that the V.League in particular and the professional league system in general must be temporarily suspended. The other side, of course, strongly opposes it. Because they believe that just because a tournament is not part of the official system, the majority of other professional players and clubs must stop their activities. Invisibly, the image of the V.League also becomes amateurish in the eyes of sponsors. Especially for foreign businesses that have, are and will be planning to cooperate.
Basically, each viewpoint has its own reasons, but in the true sense of the word, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Who dares to claim that they will be responsible if the V.League continues and the Vietnamese youth team fails at the SEA Games? Who dares to stand up and call for support for the VFF, if the Vietnamese team fails miserably at the AFF Cup, in the context that the V.League continues for the clubs.
On the contrary, in any context, when Vietnam succeeds or fails in the regional arena, the suspension of V.League and the national professional tournament is still a topic or target for some to criticize VFF or VPF. The level of tension increases or decreases depending on the good or bad performance of the Vietnamese national teams. In the end, the debate between these two viewpoints is like the way we defend the viewpoint of whether the chicken or the egg came first. The cycle repeats every year without any suitable solution to explain it.
If anything, these criticisms are often aimed at the VFF and VPF. Whether the Vietnamese national teams win or lose, the two organizations that govern professional football in Vietnam in particular and the entire system of the king sport in general are also the subjects of criticism.
Why did Vietnam stop V..League because of SEA Games?
So the question is, despite facing such opinions, will Vietnamese football still postpone the V.League for the SEA Games or the AFF Cup? Most recently, at the conference to deploy preparations for organizing national professional football tournaments in 2025/2026, VPF General Director Nguyen Minh Ngoc presented a specific plan for the 2025/2026 season. Two options for the new season have been proposed. But in general, the V.League will still be postponed for 1-2 months for the U22 Vietnam team to focus on the 33rd SEA Games.
According to the conference report, the football teams did not have any objections to the V.League stopping because of the SEA Games. That means they agreed with the plan proposed by VPF. In the context of being the main characters of the professional league, once the clubs also agreed with the above opinion, there is no reason why the V.League or the National First Division would not stop.
Another factor is the interests of some specific clubs. Previously, HAGL lost half of its players to U22 or U23 Vietnam to compete in regional or continental tournaments. Those were all fronts that were not part of FIFA Days. Of course, if the V.League continued, HAGL would be the team that suffered the most. This story continued to repeat itself in the following years. The number of clubs contributing players to U22 Vietnam was expanded.
Looking at the current list of U22 Vietnam, Dinh Xuan Tien and Nguyen Quang Vinh are the main players of Song Lam Nghe An Club. Before getting injured, Nguyen Dinh Bac also played continuously for Cong An Ha Noi Club. The story is similar with Viktor Le at Hong Linh Ha Tinh or somewhat Nguyen Phi Hoang at Da Nang. Not only with V.League clubs, some teams in the First Division also have many key players promoted to U22 Vietnam. PVF-CAND has Nguyen Bao Long, Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Nguyen Hieu Minh, Nguyen Xuan Bac. Phu Dong Ninh Binh also has Nguyen Quoc Viet playing for U22 Vietnam. Obviously, if the professional tournament continues during the SEA Games, the disadvantage in terms of force for the above clubs will also be unbalanced.
In addition, there are commercial factors, television copyrights and the general tastes of ordinary readers. It must be admitted that even when the V.League takes place in parallel with the SEA Games or the AFF Cup, the level of interest of the Vietnamese teams is many times greater than that of the clubs. This measure is increasingly accurate through the number of followers and visits on social networking platforms every time the Vietnamese team competes or gathers. Or for example, Nguyen Xuan Son would not have been able to create a phenomenon and become famous like now without the boost called the AFF Cup. Let's ask, in the tournament that took place a few months ago, Xuan Son was still playing for Nam Dinh instead of joining the Vietnamese team, what would the scenario be like?
The appeal of the Vietnam National Team brings with it commercial value. The unit that has owned the copyright of V.League for the past 5 years immediately created a huge boost in the market, thanks to the championship journey of the "Golden Star Warriors". That is something they have never achieved, even though they have owned the copyright to exploit V.League for more than 2 years!
In conclusion, the fact that the Vietnam National Team and Vietnam U22 played in tournaments not included in FIFA Days, forcing the V.League to stop for 1-2 months, is not suitable for the general rotation and schedule of world football. However, the influence and attraction of these tournaments are too great, forcing the Vietnamese professional league to be in a desperate situation.
If fans do not want to “step on the toes” of the interests between the national team and the club, they need to wait for the decision of FIFA, the AFF Cup Organizing Committee or the SEA Games, about bringing these tournaments in line with the international calendar. Then, another argument, also following the chicken and egg scenario, will break out…
Pick up and chop
In fact, the fact that V.League has to give way to SEA Games or AFF Cup has been happening continuously for many years. When there is no thorough solution, clubs often take the initiative to take advantage of this time for a number of items. The first is to let players recover their physical condition after playing continuously for a period of time. The second is to take advantage of the opportunity to refurbish the infrastructure system and field conditions. For example, during the FIFA Days period in March 2025, some fields in Ha Tinh, Binh Dinh, Thanh Hoa, and Ha Tinh entered the maintenance, repair, and upgrade phase.
Some clubs are taking advantage of this time to regain their spirits after a period of poor performance before. Coach Makoto Teguramori, the new coach of Hanoi FC, has another opportunity to work with a new team. The same thing happened to new coach Le Duc Tuan at Da Nang Club. The story of Binh Dinh upgrading its squad to prepare for the later stages of the V.League is also similar.
Basically, instead of complaining or opposing VPF or VFF, the clubs choose to transform and flexibly respond to the times!
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