According to information from the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), this player is still eligible to play in the Southeast Asian Championship, while the penalty will be implemented at the 2027 Asian Cup finals.
The origin of the suspension originated from the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals. In the third-place match against U23 Korea on January 23, 2026, Dinh Bac was sent off in the final minutes for receiving a direct red card. According to the AFC's decision, the 22-year-old striker must miss 2 matches in the next tournament under the AFC-managed system that he is registered to participate in.
At the ASEAN Cup organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), this regulation is not applied. This helps Dinh Bac to participate right from the opening match of Group A of the Vietnamese team against Timor Leste on July 24th at a neutral stadium in Chonburi (Thailand).
A noteworthy detail is that the match against Malaysia in the Asian Cup qualifiers in March was not counted to erase the penalty. The reason is that Dinh Bac is not on the summons list. According to AFC regulations, players are only considered to have served their sentences when they are registered to participate in the tournament but are not registered to play in a specific match.
Dinh Bac's qualification for the ASEAN Cup brings more options for coach Kim Sang-sik in attack. The player born in 2004 is competing for a starting spot with naturalized strikers such as Nguyen Xuan Son, Hoang Hen and Nguyen Tai Loc.
Previously, Dinh Bac also had a favorable warm-up before the tournament. In the friendly match with Myanmar at Thai Nguyen stadium, the Nghe An striker was brought on from the 2nd half and scored 1 goal, contributing to helping the Vietnamese team win 4-0.
