If the Vietnamese team reaches the final of the ASEAN Cup (formerly known as the AFF Cup) 2024, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will continue to compete at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho), instead of returning to My Dinh Stadium (Hanoi).
The Vietnamese team will play the first leg of the final at home on January 2, then visit their opponents on January 5. In a favorable case, Quang Hai and his teammates will lift the cup on the away field.
There are many reasons leading to VFF's decision on the stadium of the Vietnam national team.
Firstly, the Asian Football Confederation (AFF) only allows the host country to change the originally registered stadium in case of force majeure or special reasons. For example, Singapore was forced to change from the National Stadium to Jalan Besar Stadium because of a music program.
At this time, the conditions for organizing the competition and the quality of the grass at Viet Tri Stadium are all satisfactory. VFF does not need to change the stadium. Besides, after 17 days of organizing 2 music nights of the program “Anh trai say hi”, the quality of the grass at My Dinh Stadium has not improved much. If we try to organize the final match here, many consequences may occur.
Since the beginning of the tournament, the Vietnamese team has been having favorable results in the matches taking place at Viet Tri Stadium. The stands are always filled with fans. The fans have created a warm, enthusiastic feeling and aroused the fighting spirit of the Vietnamese team.
In return, the Vietnam Football Federation also had to accept the story of reduced profits when organizing matches at Viet Tri Stadium. The capacity of the stadium is only about 20,000 seats, but VFF can only sell a maximum of 15,000 - 16,000 tickets because they are also distributed to away team fans, organizers, and sponsors of the team.
However, the players are used to playing at Viet Tri and moving to My Dinh is not necessarily a good option at the moment.
