From Hanoi Police to Thanh Hoa
On September 16, Hanoi Police suddenly received a penalty from FIFA. Due to a financial dispute with foreign player Andrey Ramos, the Police sector team was banned from registering new players in 3 consecutive transfer windows from the world football governing body. However, it is not clear how much money Hanoi Police must pay to resolve the case with Ramos.
On the same day, Thanh Hoa club also suffered a similar situation related to the case of foreign player Rimario suing Thanh Hoa team a few months ago. FIFA has sent a document to the Vietnam Football Federation about Thanh Hoa Club needing to pay 305,000 USD, equivalent to 8 billion VND including salary, bonuses, signing bonuses for this foreign player. Thanh Hoa team also has to pay an interest rate of 5% per year from June 18, 2026.
It is known that Thanh Hoa has the right to request FIFA to provide a detailed disciplinary document within 10 days from the date of receiving the decision on September 10. After that, the club has the right to appeal to the FIFA Complaints Committee. If the appeal continues to be rejected, Thanh Hoa has the right to bring the case to the International Court of Arbitration (CAS). If it continues to lose, the team faces a heavier penalty and 20,000 USD in court fees.
If they do not appeal, Thanh Hoa has 45 days (from the date of receiving the detailed disciplinary document) to complete payment for the player. If overdue, the club will be banned from registering new players in the next 3 transfer windows, similar to Hanoi Police.
Unfinished loop
With Hanoi Police Club, this is the first time this team has received a penalty from FIFA. Meanwhile, in the case of Thanh Hoa, in the past 9 months alone, this team has continuously received warnings from the world football organization.
Right at the beginning of this year, FIFA banned Thanh Hoa from registering new players due to being sued by 3 players and 1 coach for owing salaries and financial obligations. By March 17, Thanh Hoa completely settled the money for the above-mentioned plaintiffs. Thanks to that, coach Mai Xuan Hop's team was eligible to add 6 new players at that time.
Two months later, FIFA issued a player transfer ban for Thanh Hoa for 3 consecutive periods. This penalty came after striker Rimario Gordon announced his departure from the team. The case seemed to be closed after the new Board of Directors of the team took over. However, as mentioned above, the club's top management still needs to settle the regime issues for Rimario.
In fact, Thanh Hoa being subjected to a series of FIFA sanctions revolving around financial issues is not new, especially in the context of leadership and management company transfer.
5 years ago, when Thanh Hoa changed its chairman from Mr. Nguyen Van De to businessman Cao Tien Doan, FIFA also announced that the team needed to pay nearly 260,000 USD in remuneration to coach Fabio Lopez, assistant Salvatore Orofino and foreign player Idrissa Cisse.
Because the case originated from the old boss's time, the new person taking over affirmed that he would not pay the debt instead. Finally, at that time, provincial leaders and the Thanh Hoa Football Federation intervened to handle it thoroughly. With domestic players, similar cases rarely occur.
