Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club has made an important milestone in the history of Vietnamese women's football when it reached the semi-finals of the 2024-2025 AFC Champions League for women.
This achievement helped the team receive a reward of up to 340,000 USD (nearly 9 billion VND) from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). This is the amount of money paid by AFC based on the performance through each round: 100,000 USD when participating in the group stage, 40,000 USD for 2 wins in the group stage, 80,000 USD in the quarter-finals and 120,000 USD after qualifying for the semi-finals.
One of the most impressive matches was a dramatic 5-4 victory over Abu Dhabi Country (UAE) at Thong Nhat Stadium, where HCMC players came back after falling 0-3 in the first half.
However, nearly 2 months after the tournament ended, the players have not yet received any rewards from the above amount. According to feedback from some team members, the players are currently quite disappointed. Although competing for the flag and color of the jersey, they also have expectations for a clear reward mechanism from the AFC for each victory and specific milestone.
In a recent meeting with representatives of Thong Nhat Sports Center, the players expressed their desire to contribute a part of the money transferred by AFC as a reward for encouragement.
The players said that because the team plays in the group stage right in Ho Chi Minh City and the cost of hiring foreign players is low, it is still possible to balance to reasonably reward those who have contributed greatly to the achievements.
On the management side, Thong Nhat Sports Center and the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City said that they are sending a document to ask for the opinion of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to receive instructions from the Department of Finance on how to handle this amount.
