VFF acknowledges Thai football's apology for mistakenly displaying Vietnam's national flag

(Dan Tri) - On the afternoon of October 29, at the headquarters of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), FAT Vice President Adisak Benjasiriwan had a meeting and explained to VFF leaders about the incident of mistakenly displaying the Vietnamese national flag.

The incident of mistakenly displaying the Vietnamese national flag occurred at the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U16 and U19 futsal tournament organized by the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) on the afternoon of October 28 in Bangkok (Thailand). The meeting between VFF and FAT on the afternoon of October 29 was witnessed by the General Secretary of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) Winston Lee.

At the beginning of the working session, Mr. Adisak Benjasiriwan read the official apology letter from the FAT President to the VFF. In the letter, FAT President Nualphan Lamsam (commonly known as Madam Pang) expressed his deep regret and sincere apology for the unfortunate incident related to the misplacement of the Vietnamese national flag during the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 men's futsal championship.

FAT President Madam Pang affirmed: “We are fully aware of the seriousness of this mistake and take full responsibility for the incident that occurred. The Football Association of Thailand has immediately taken corrective measures, reviewed and tightened the event organization process, to ensure that similar mistakes will not recur.”

Vice President Adisak Benjasiriwan presented FAT's letter of apology to VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan (Photo: VFF)

FAT emphasized in the letter: “The Football Association of Thailand would like to sincerely apologize to the Vietnam Football Federation, the Southeast Asian Football Federation and all relevant parties for this incident.

We appreciate your continued understanding and support and reaffirm our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and respect in all AFF events hosted by Thailand.”

On the evening of October 28, FAT's homepage also posted a press release apologizing to VFF and Vietnamese fans: "FAT sincerely hopes that VFF and the Vietnamese people will accept our apology and sympathize with this unintentional mistake, a human error, completely without the intention of disrespecting the country of Vietnam.

This is an important lesson for us to be more careful and serious in all organizational processes, in order to maintain the highest standards that the Southeast Asian Football Federation expects from us as the host country."

VFF leaders acknowledged FAT's sincere apology and highly appreciated the proactive, open-minded, and respectful spirit that Thai football demonstrated. VFF considered this a serious mistake and affirmed that this is a profound lesson in the preparation and organization of international events, aiming to improve the professionalism of the competition system of the Southeast Asian Football Federation.

The FAT representative pledged not to let similar mistakes happen in the future, and expressed his desire to continue to maintain a cooperative relationship and closely coordinate with the VFF in activities to develop football in Southeast Asia to become increasingly professional and sustainable.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/vff-ghi-nhan-loi-xin-loi-cua-bong-da-thai-lan-vu-nham-quoc-ky-viet-nam-20251029172216277.htm