Thailand team plays AFF Cup at Hang Day, Viet Tri stadium is reserved for Vietnam

Timor Leste are the final team to qualify for the 2024 AFF Cup after defeating Brunei in the play-off match. According to the draw results, they are in Group A with Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia.

Timor Leste will host Thailand and Singapore at home on December 8 and 14 and play away to Malaysia and Cambodia on December 11 and 17.

Thus, the Thai and Singaporean teams will play at Hang Day Stadium in the group stage of the 2024 AFF Cup as away teams. The home team in these matches is Timor Leste. Previously, the Timor Leste Football Federation rented Viet Tri Stadium as their home ground because the stadiums in this country did not meet AFF standards.

Hang Day Stadium is considered to have a good grass surface and is currently the home ground of Hanoi Police Club and Hanoi in V-League.

However, things changed when the Vietnamese team could not choose My Dinh Stadium (Hanoi) as their home ground. The reason was that the music event "Anh Trai Say Hi" would take place here on December 7, just 8 days before the match between the Vietnamese team and Indonesia. Organizing this event certainly made the grass at My Dinh Stadium not ensure the best quality. And according to AFF regulations, the grass at the stadium must be carefully cared for at least 3 weeks before the official matches.

Therefore, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) had to submit a request to change the home stadium (My Dinh to Viet Tri) to the AFF and it was approved. At this time, Viet Tri Stadium is expected to host 4 matches in the group stage of the AFF Cup 2024: 2 of the Vietnam team and 2 of the Timor Leste team. This could affect the quality of the grass, leading to a failure to ensure professional quality for the matches. That is why the Timor Leste Football Federation had to choose Hang Day Stadium as its home stadium.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-thai-lan-da-aff-cup-o-hang-day-san-viet-tri-danh-han-cho-viet-nam-185241117164312192.htm