VFF requests clarification of the incident of mistakenly displaying the Vietnamese flag during the draw for the U19 and U16 Southeast Asian Futsal Tournament

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has sent a letter of protest and requested clarification on the mistake of the Vietnamese flag at the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 and U16 Futsal Championship.

Image of Vietnam's draw with the Chinese flag at the draw ceremony for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 and U16 Futsal Championship - Screenshot

On the afternoon of October 28, the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) conducted the draw and scheduled the matches for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 Futsal Championship and the 2025 Southeast Asian U16 Futsal Championship in Thailand.

At the drawing ceremony, there was an unacceptable mistake when the draw with the name Vietnam was used by the Organizing Committee with the Chinese national flag instead of the Vietnamese national flag.

What is more noteworthy is that the draw was broadcast live on the homepage of the Football Association of Thailand. Therefore, this confusion was more widespread and serious.

After the above serious incident, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) sent an official document to the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) as well as the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) to protest and request clarification.

In a document sent to the AFF, the VFF clearly stated its view that this serious incident could have consequences affecting Vietnam's image and negatively impacting the solidarity of the ASEAN community.

VFF requested AFF to clarify the cause of the above incident and ensure strict measures to prevent similar mistakes from happening again in upcoming events.

VFF believes that AFF is also fully aware of the seriousness of this incident and will handle it with the highest sense of responsibility, caution and professionalism.

The 2025 Southeast Asian U19 Futsal Tournament takes place from December 23 to 29 at Nonthaburi Provincial Gymnasium (Thailand).

According to the draw results, the Vietnam U19 futsal team is in Group A with host Thailand and Brunei. Group B includes Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia.

The teams compete in a round robin to score points in the group, selecting the top two teams in each group to enter the semi-finals to compete for a place in the final.

The 2025 Southeast Asian U16 Futsal Championship will also take place at the Nonthaburi Provincial Gymnasium. The tournament will have 5 participating teams including Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei.

The teams compete in a round robin format to determine the two best teams to advance to the final, while the third and fourth placed teams will play for third place.

This is the first time AFF has organized two futsal tournaments for the U16 and U19 age groups, marking an important turning point for youth futsal in the region.

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vff-yeu-cau-lam-ro-su-co-nham-co-viet-nam-khi-boc-tham-giai-futsal-u19-va-u16-dong-nam-a-20251028184718861.htm