Removing financial difficulties for the sports industry

As Vietnamese sports face the risk of not being able to win medals at the upcoming second consecutive Olympics, the industry's difficulties have been recognized, including the extremely important factor of finance.

A training session of the Vietnamese athletics team. (Photo: Document)

In 2018, the sports industry of our country implemented a wage regime for athletes according to Decision 32/2011/QD-TTg signed by the Prime Minister on June 6, 2011. The daily wage during training and competition, accumulated for the whole month, for each athlete is about 3.6 million VND on average. Up to now, this amount has been increased, but the wage of 7 to 8 million VND/month that each athlete at the national team level receives is still too low, not enough to attract talents to contribute to the national team.

According to Decree 152/2018/ND-CP (dated November 7, 2018) stipulating a number of regimes for coaches and athletes during the training and competition period currently being applied, the average salary of a national team coach is about 13.1 million VND/person/month, and the national youth team coach receives 9.7 million VND/person/month. For national team athletes, they receive a salary of 270,000 VND/person/day excluding days off. Athletes who are assessed to be capable of winning gold medals at world and continental levels will also receive the same salary as other athletes training in national teams without discrimination.

Regarding food expenses, according to Circular 86/2020/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance, national team athletes are entitled to a food allowance of VND 320,000/person/day. When athletes are called up to the national team to participate in the SEA Games, Asiad, and Olympics, they will be entitled to a food allowance of VND 480,000/person/day, for a period of no more than 90 days. Athletes who are capable of winning the ASIAD, Youth Olympic Gold Medals and meeting the Olympic standards will be entitled to a meal allowance of VND 640,000/person/day. This amount includes all food, drinks, functional foods, etc.

Not only that, currently all national level competitions still apply a very low financial regime according to Joint Circular 200/2011/TTLT-BTC-BVHTTDL issued since 2011, stipulating that the meal allowance during the organization of the tournament for the subjects is not more than 150,000 VND/person/day. For subjects receiving salaries from the state budget who have been guaranteed the meal allowance during the time of participating in the sports competition, they will not be paid the accommodation allowance for business trips according to the current business trip allowance regime during the time of participating in the sports competition.

Allowances for performing duties are also regulated: Steering Committee, Organizing Committee, Heads and Deputy Heads of Professional Subcommittees not exceeding 120,000 VND/person/day; members of Professional Subcommittees not exceeding 100,000 VND/person/day; Supervisors and main referees not exceeding 85,000 VND/person/session; Secretaries and other referees not exceeding 60,000 VND/person/session; Police, medical staff, service staff... not exceeding 50,000 VND/person/session.

The above-mentioned amounts are considered outdated, making it difficult for individuals and groups in the sports industry to have the motivation to improve their performance. To reach the Olympic level, athletes also face difficulties when the training facilities do not meet international standards. While the qualifications of Vietnamese coaches still have certain limitations, hiring foreign experts also faces many obstacles due to salary regulations. For example, weightlifting is considered a strength of Vietnam, but it has not been possible to find good experts because the current salary of about 7,000 USD/month does not attract talent.

Director of the Department of Physical Training and Sports Dang Ha Viet said: "The sports industry is waiting for a breakthrough in financial mechanisms, but it cannot self-regulate, but must have changes in the Law so that relevant ministries and branches have a basis for implementation." With so many obstacles, it may take a long time to "untie" the finances of Vietnamese sports, while training and competition in difficult conditions like the present make it very difficult for Vietnamese athletes to improve their achievements and reach the level in major international arenas.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/thao-go-kho-khan-tai-chinh-cho-nganh-the-thao-post385856.html