VFF receives Thailand's apology letter for mistakenly displaying Vietnam's national flag, FAT pledges to make no mistakes

The delegation of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) was present at the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) this afternoon to apologize for the incident of misrepresenting the Vietnamese national flag as the Chinese national flag.

FAT went to Vietnam to apologize for the wrong national flag incident.

This afternoon (October 29), VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan and VFF General Secretary Nguyen Van Phu received the FAT delegation authorized by Madam Pang, after the serious incident of misrepresenting the Vietnamese national flag as the Chinese national flag. Notably, accompanying the FAT delegation was an important figure of the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF), General Secretary Winston Lee.

The incident occurred at the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U.19 Men's Futsal Championship, when host Thailand (the tournament organizer) used the Chinese national flag in the draw with the name Vietnam. The incident caused a strong reaction in the fan community.

VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan (right) and FAT leaders

FAT Vice President Reads Madam Pang's Apology Letter

During the working session on the afternoon of October 29, FAT Vice President presented FAT's apology letter to VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan. At the beginning of the working session, FAT Vice President Adisak Benjasiriwan read the official apology letter from FAT President (Madam Pang) to VFF. In the letter, FAT President 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 U.19 men's futsal championship.

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

FAT leaders come to VFF headquarters, hand over apology letter after incident of mistakenly displaying Vietnam's national flag

The letter emphasized: “FAT would like to sincerely apologize to VFF, AFF and all relevant parties for this incident. We appreciate your continued sympathy and support, and affirm our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and respect in all AFF events hosted by Thailand.”

On the evening of October 28, the official fanpage of FAT also posted a press release apologizing to VFF and Vietnamese fans. The release stated: “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 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 AFF expects from us as the host country.”

VFF appreciates FAT's open-minded spirit

VFF has acknowledged FAT's sincere apology and highly appreciated the proactive, open-minded and respectful spirit that FAT has shown. VFF considers this a serious mistake and affirms that this is a profound lesson in the preparation and organization of international events, aiming to improve the professionalism of the AFF competition system.

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://thanhnien.vn/vff-tiep-nhan-thu-xin-loi-cua-thai-lan-vu-nham-quoc-ky-viet-nam-fat-cam-ket-khong-sai-sot-185251029114139266.htm