On the evening of October 28, President of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) - Ms. Nualphan Lamsam (commonly known as Madam Pang) on behalf of FAT sent an official letter to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and President Tran Quoc Tuan to apologize for the incident of displaying the wrong Vietnamese flag at the draw for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 Men's Futsal Championship.
In the letter, Madam Pang wrote: On behalf of the Football Federation of Thailand, I would like to express my deepest regret and sincere apologies for the unfortunate incident related to the mistaken placement of the Vietnamese national flag in the draw for the 2025 Southeast Asian U19 Men's Futsal Championship, held in Thailand on October 28, 2025.
She stressed that Thailand was fully aware of the seriousness of this mistake and would take full responsibility.
The Feds president FAT said the federation has immediately reviewed the entire organization process and applied remedies to ensure similar errors do not occur in the future.
We would like to express our most sincere apologies to the Vietnam Football Federation, the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) and all relevant parties, Madam Pang expressed.
Chairman FAT also hopes to soon have the opportunity to directly apologize to Mr. Tran Quoc Tuan - Chairman of the Vietnam Football Federation.
Previously, during the draw ceremony, the Chinese flag was displayed instead of the Vietnamese flag on the draw of the Vietnam team, causing public outrage.
Immediately afterwards, VFF sent an official document to AFF and FAT to protest, requesting clarification of the cause and taking preventive measures. VFF believes that this is a serious incident, which could affect the national image and solidarity in the region.
The Federation expressed its hope that AFF would handle the incident seriously, professionally and cautiously to ensure absolute respect for member states.
