At first glance, this may seem like a small issue, but it is a major headache for the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF). The suspension of domestic tournaments such as the V-League to give the "stage" to national teams, including the U-teams, has created quite a bit of controversy in recent times.
From a professional perspective, coaches such as Phan Thanh Hung, Van Sy Son or Vu Tien Thanh... have all spoken out against it, saying that the suspension of national tournaments affects the quality and preparation of the clubs. At the same time, when the competition resumes, the dense schedule will overload the players.
However, on the other hand, VFF and VPF are also under pressure from... the leaders of the teams themselves if the competition time is extended. The reason, as some opinions say, is that the extended tournament will cause additional costs for the teams from paying salaries to foreign players and many other expenses.
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Another issue that gives VFF a headache is that if the tournaments are not stopped, many teams will not "release" players, especially youth teams. Most recently, the Vietnam U20 team when participating in the 2025 U20 Asian Qualifiers also faced a shortage of players. Some important players such as Nguyen Cong Phuong (The Cong Viettel), Long Vu (SLNA) could not gather on schedule due to V-League plans.
To have enough players for U20 Vietnam to practice and compete, VFF had to work hard to convince the clubs to give up their players. When they were eliminated early, the U20 Vietnam team was under a lot of pressure due to criticism from fans.
In 2025, the competition schedule will be even more dense and currently VFF is quite worried because without the consensus of the clubs, coach Kim Sang-sik will hardly be able to prepare the best for the Vietnam U22 team.
“We are forced to research a plan to ensure the harmony of interests between national teams and clubs. But there is not always a perfect plan because time is limited,” said a VPF official.
In fact, when discussing within the VFF Executive Committee, the problem also arises when the number of players called up for the national teams is often concentrated on a few clubs. Other cases with few players called up for the national team will usually not accept stopping the tournament for too long because it will not be affected. On the contrary, clubs with a large number of players called up for the national team will complain if the tournament continues.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/vi-sao-u22-viet-nam-co-the-gap-kho-o-sea-games-33-ar923208.html
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