In August, when the 2025-2026 Vietnam professional football tournaments had not yet taken place, many new and old stories continuously appeared.
In the V.League, Quang Nam club suddenly stopped operating even though they are participating in a friendly tournament before the new season. A missed transfer caused this team to fall into a deadlock.
After that, Quang Nam FC and local leaders actively searched for a new sponsor. In fact, there are large enterprises that have paid attention to the ability to maintain the operations of the Tam Ky Stadium team. But when V.League is close to the match day, no one can wait for Quang Nam.
Also because of the last-minute decision of the former V.League champion, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), and Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) had to encourage Binh Phuoc (now Truong Tuoi Dong Nai) or PVF-CAND to be promoted. In the end, Dong Nai resolutely refused and PVF-CAND accepted the invitation.
Of course, football managers are also "holding their breath" according to each decision of Quang Nam or PVF-CAND. In the end, V.League still had 14 teams as expected.
The situation in the First Division is not smooth. From Long An club, Khanh Hoa and finally Hoa Binh FC, the possibility of not participating in the tournament is uncertain.
On September 9, Hoa Binh club officially issued a document requesting to withdraw from the National First Division. Gia Dinh's team also... moved from Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Tho and changed its name to Xuan Thien Phu Tho.
After that, VFF and VPF were forced to agree on a re- drawing plan when the First Division only had 12 teams. The teams also have to change all their plans and calculations. Due to the difference in the number of teams between V.League and the First Division, VFF decided to change from 2 places to increase/relegation to 1.5 places for this year's season.
The question "Why do Vietnamese clubs have such weak vitality?" is too old. Any fan understands that, without support from private enterprises, no team will maintain operations for more than 1-2 seasons.
However, at the macro level, Vietnamese football will have to suffer a lot of damage due to instability of football teams as well as professional tournaments. The playground for young players aged 18-21 is getting less and less crowded because the number of teams is getting less. With less opportunities to compete, the quality of the next generations of players for the national team is increasingly alarming.
According to the development model of many major football regions, the number of teams in lower divisions needs to be more than the national championship. With this approach, the development of the entire football scene becomes more stable. But at the present time, V.League has more than the First Division to 2 teams.
Many people joked that at this time, some businesses can still bear the burden, otherwise, the First Division will have fewer teams. It is difficult to believe that the World Cup dream is approaching Vietnam if we look at the situation of the whole football industry.
