Will the Transfer Regulations be issued soon?
In 2015, the Vietnam Athletics Federation issued its regulations and notified units nationwide on instructions for procedures for converting, issuing new, and renewing athlete cards in case of changing units.
The regulation clearly states: “From January 1, 2016, athletes who previously competed for one unit and now transfer to compete for another unit must ensure the transfer period is 24 months to be considered valid after 24 months to compete for the new unit. After the expiration date, the units must submit an official letter requesting to extend the athlete’s card. The athlete’s card is stipulated to be valid for 2 years according to the current Athletics Law.”
This shows that when an athlete moves to a new unit (in case there is no dispute and there is a specific signed contract), he or she can only have his or her achievements counted in national system competitions after 24 months of being bound above.
There are many cases of track and field athletes who have done that. National athlete Huynh Thi My Tien is a specific example. In early 2023, she ended her contract with her old unit Vinh Long to move to Dong Nai athletics. However, this runner still has to comply with the 24-month "limit" as mentioned above. She competed in the 2023 National Athletics Championship and won the women's 100m hurdles, but the above result was only for testing purposes and was not recognized for medal awarding.
At the upcoming 2024 National Athletics Championship, Huynh Thi My Tien will officially expire her 24-month "limit" and her results will qualify her for a chance to compete for a medal.
Most recently, athlete Le Tu Chinh is the next case to compete for the new unit Ca Mau at the 2024 National Athletics Championship, but her results will be for testing purposes. In addition to Tu Chinh, the 2024 National Athletics Championship recorded three other cases of athletes who had transferred to the new unit, so they competed and tested their results without having their medal results recognized.
The Vietnam Athletics Federation is currently collecting opinions towards building a Regulation on athlete transfer. Only when specific regulations are issued and applied will many problems not occur.
All have no objections
The representative of the Vietnam Athletics Federation once explained that the regulation on the 24-month "limit" was carefully calculated. One of the reasons why Vietnam Athletics has such a regulation is because: "Vietnam Athletics has many athletes, not just specific typical cases. If there are no strict regulations, it is easy for strong units with large budgets to skim off the top, not providing professional training but only spending money to sign contracts with strong athletes from other units to wear the shirt and solve the immediate achievement goal."
In charge of the athletics department (Department of Sports and Physical Training), and also General Secretary of the Vietnam Athletics Federation - Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung also said that issues of athlete transfers are always discussed and carefully considered before issuing regulations to have binding force, above all to ensure the units and not for any other purpose.
In early 2024, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Athletics Federation met and discussed the above issue, but there were no objections. Even the possibility of shortening the time to less than 24 months is considered inappropriate at the present time.
In fact, many athletes, when transferring to a new unit, are already subject to the 24-month “limit” and their results in national system competitions are not recognized. However, no athlete has yet submitted an official written request to the Department of Physical Training and Sports or the Vietnam Athletics Federation to remove the above regulation. All athletes agree to comply with the regulation.
