Continuous negative behaviors at the National U19 Championship
On December 26, the VFF Disciplinary Committee issued a decision to discipline 5 players of the Be Tong 26 team including: Tran Duy Quang and Truong Phu Quy (fine of 3,750,000 VND, suspension of competition until the end of the tournament); Tran Trieu Anh Khoa, Dinh Duy Bao and goalkeeper Nguyen Cong Thuan (fine of 2,500,000 VND, suspension of competition for the next 5 matches) for performing improperly at the National U19 Championship 2025-2026 football tournament, seriously affecting the tournament and VFF.
It seemed that the strict penalty would rectify the playing attitude of the young players, but on December 31, the VFF Disciplinary Committee continued to issue disciplinary actions related to other negative acts in this tournament.
Accordingly, the VFF Disciplinary Committee fined 3,750,000 VND and suspended competition until the end of the tournament for the following cases: goalkeeper Duong Thanh Tu, players Vo Xuan Thien, Tran Nhat Luong, Thai Ba Bao Hoang and Nguyen Dai Hue of U19 Hoai Duc team; players Doan Quoc Huy, Vu Tuan Anh of U19 Luxury Ha Long team and player Dao Minh Tri, U19 Dao Ha Football Center team. According to VFF, in case all 3 teams above win the right to enter the Final Round, all players above will also be banned from competition.
What is the reason?
It can be easily recognized that most of the teams that have just been sanctioned by the VFF Disciplinary Committee for negative acts are new names participating in VFF tournaments in recent years.
They are not famous football training academies, or have an identity, simply participating according to the criteria that meet the requirements of the VFF.
But the core issue leading to the fact that youth leagues, or lower-level leagues, easily generate negative problems is because these are playgrounds that do not receive much attention and interest from fans.
However, many tournaments like this can easily appear on illegal betting sites, easily leading to negative consequences, so players cannot overcome temptations.
In fact, the sanctions of the VFF Disciplinary Committee all rely on match footage, or reports from supervisors to have analyses and assessments of the attitude of competition, "suspicious" developments on the field to draw conclusions and sanctions.
There are also many cases where the VFF has been decisive and strong when asking the investigating agency to intervene, and there have even been prison sentences for negative acts of young players.
With continuous acts showing negative signs at the National U19 Championship 2025-2026, VFF needs to take stronger and more thorough action, not just simply banning playing for a few matches or fining a certain amount of money.
This may not be enough deterrent, but more severe penalties are needed, even coordinating with functional agencies to prevent or clarify all negative acts (if any), to clean up the tournament.
