V.League "hangs" a competition field
On February 24, Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) and the organizing committee of V.League 2024-2025 had to withdraw a "red card" for Ha Tinh Stadium. After two inspections on February 21 and 24, the grass of the stadium did not meet the requirements as well as ensure the organization of matches in the national professional tournament system.
The solution of buying Paspalum grass - a type of grass specialized for golf courses - to temporarily search the dead areas of Hong Linh Ha Tinh club is not feasible. Due to the urgent situation, combined with prolonged cold and rainy weather, the grass grass areas are not yet complete and still need more time to develop.
Finally, the V.League organizing committee decided to "suspend" Ha Tinh Stadium for at least 1 round. This means that coach Nguyen Thanh Cong and his team must travel to Nghe An to welcome Thanh Hoa at Vinh Stadium in round 15 taking place on February 28.
The story of a club asking to play for the stadium of another team is not uncommon in the history of V.League. However, the fact that the tournament organizers "hang" the stadium while the tournament is taking place is less common than before. That shows the alarming quality of the grass of some courts in Vietnam today.
In addition to the objective factor from the weather, a reason often given by teams is the high density of V.League competition. The teams have to use the stadium with a continuous frequency, both practicing and competing, affecting the care and maintenance of the grass.
Invisibly, this leads to paradoxes in the overall picture of Vietnamese stadiums today.
International standard stadium "torturing" V.League and First Division
Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho) is a familiar destination for domestic and international fans from the end of November 2024 to the beginning of 2025. This is the home stadium of the Vietnam team at the ASEAN Cup 2024.
Previously, Viet Tri Stadium was also chosen to host the qualifying round of Asian youth tournaments from the U17 and U19 levels to hosting a group at the 31st SEA Games (2022).
Despite its modest capacity, Viet Tri Stadium meets all standards in all aspects for approval by the Asian Football Confederation, Southeast Asian Football Confederation or the SEA Games Organizing Committee.
It is worth mentioning that since May 2024, with Phu Tho club being relegated to the Second Division (semi-professional), Viet Tri Stadium has therefore not appeared in the stadium system of Vietnam's professional football tournaments - V.League and First Division.
Another stadium in a similar situation is Can Tho Stadium. With a capacity of more than 50,000 seats, this stadium used to be a true "fire pan" when hosting international youth tournaments.
3 years ago, Can Tho Stadium hosted the 2022 U19 International Youth Newspaper Tournament, with the participation of Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Malaysia.
However, unfortunately, when Can Tho club disbanded in February 2023, this stadium also fell into a "white" situation for professional football.
Similarly, Cam Pha Stadium (Quang Ninh) is also vacant, not organizing any professional tournaments.
Previously, Cam Pha Stadium was the venue for matches in the 31st SEA Games women's football tournament as well as hosting the match between the Vietnam national team and U22 Vietnam in 2020.
However, because Than Quang Ninh club dissolved at the end of 2021, Cam Pha did not organize any matches in the professional tournament system. A newly established football team in this locality, Quang Ninh Club (second place), also only plays and trains in Ha Long. The team also has no intention of using Cam Pha in the current period.
Meanwhile, in contrast to the situation of some courts being left unused, last year's V.League season saw 3 teams including Hanoi FC, Hanoi Police and The Cong Viettel all using Hang Day courts.
There was even a time when the teams "came up" and did not want to leave this stadium, despite being about 10 kilometers away, My Dinh Stadium was almost only open to visitors when organizing tournaments under the AFC system or international matches of the Vietnam team.
It was not until the beginning of the 2024-2025 season that The Cong Viettel decided to choose My Dinh as their home stadium in the V.League.
However, this international standard stadium has also become the center of controversy. That is, the organization of a music event forced The Cong Viettel to re-borrow Hang Day Stadium in some matches, or recently, the My Dinh Stadium turf was frankly criticized by coaches for lacking quality...
