VPF is strong and determined
On the afternoon of February 24, Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF), V.League Organizing Committee conducted a second inspection of the current status of Ha Tinh Stadium. Three days before, the stadium failed its first inspection and was given an extension.
In an official dispatch sent on February 13, VPF emphasized that if the situation does not improve, Hong Linh Ha Tinh will have to use another football field as their home stadium right from round 15 of V.League. And in the end, that bad prospect happened.
It is known that the Ha Tinh Stadium Management Board has imported Paspalum grass - a type of grass specialized for golf courses - to cover areas that have not met standards due to dead grass.
However, due to urgent situations, combined with prolonged cold and rainy weather, the grass grass areas are not yet complete, and still need more time to develop. Hong Linh Ha Tinh was forced to rent Vinh Stadium (Nghe An) to organize the match against Thanh Hoa on February 28. After that, VPF will continue to check the situation and only when the grass is guaranteed can Hong Linh Ha Tinh return to their home field.
This is also the first time the V.League Organizing Committee has taken such a strong action. Previously, many clubs complained about the quality of the grass, but in the end, to ensure the season was carried out as planned, the organizing committee still campaigned before granting a competition license.
When will the scene of "losing a cow and worrying about building a barn" end?
Hong Linh Ha Tinh's "losing" home field despite being in the mid-season shows the strong hand of VPF and receives support from public opinion.
The image of the Ha Tinh Stadium Management Board running around looking to buy new grass to patch on dead grass also shows the sad situation in the V.League. The teams have the conditions to repair the quality of the pitch, but only when they are forced into a squat do they start.
V.League will take a break to make way for the ASEAN Cup 2024 from November 20, 2024 to January 14, 2025, then return. Hong Linh Ha Tinh had 7 weeks to take care of and upgrade the grass, but in the end they only did this work when VPF checked and gave them a 7-day deadline. And of course, 7 days are not enough.
Similar to Ha Tinh Stadium, Quy Nhon Stadium was also honked by VPF. Once a stadium praised by coach Park Hang-seo, chosen as a training ground for the Vietnam National Team in mid-2021 to prepare for the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, the quality of the Quy Nhon stadium's grass is now seriously degraded.
Another football field, Hoa Xuan Stadium, has had to close to renovate the grass. Da Nang Club accepted to rent Tam Ky Stadium for the rest of the season.
This reflects a situation in the V.League, where teams can spend 15-20 billion VND or more on mid-quality foreign players, but upgrading the grass only costs less than 1/4 of the above amount of money and is not focused on. At the same time, the lack of a separate training ground is also a reason, making it difficult for the ground surface to ensure quality.
Sharing with Lao Dong, commentator Quang Huy said: "The quality of the pitch affects the tournament's expertise. The field surface in V.League is not only unhealthy but also rough and bumpy. Not only did the match lose its appeal, but players were also susceptible to injuries. Knowing that there is a risk of injury, players will not play comfortably and fall into a state of frustration and anxiety.
In the North, the winter is frosty and cold, causing grass to die. The teams do not have the conditions, and sometimes it is difficult to take care of the grass because the frost and salt will kill the grass, leading to a bad pitch. But in fact, some teams are not interested in this.
