In English, “moment of truth” is understood as the moment when the truth about something is revealed, or when an important decision is made. For Vietnamese football, the truth of the present is that “the economy needs to be prioritized”.
There will be people who try to find as many reasons as possible to prove, to affirm, to promise the attractiveness of the First Division in the 2024-2025 season, when a series of famous players leave V.League or return from abroad to choose to join clubs in this division. And even if they deliberately ignore the financial issue, the stars themselves have spoken out to admit the most important thing at the moment.
Hoang Duc said, “must have money to take care of the family” when he joined Ninh Binh club. Van Lam did not talk directly about money, but mentioned “family” and “wanting to play near home”, also in Ninh Binh’s shirt. Cong Phuong, in Binh Phuoc, did not mention the financial aspect but “the persuasiveness of the team’s project”, but people could hardly ignore the huge amount of money in the 3-year contract.
And other stars, in V.League, with enough signing bonuses to ensure a painful truth for Vietnamese football: Lost!
A football industry should develop well enough to make enough money and give the players - the main characters, a stable life to focus on their expertise, but on the contrary, the stars have to leave because of the problem of making a living. It is said that "leaving" but it is also in the country with the paradox that the lower ranks earn more money than the players in the highest ranks.
Another fact, which can easily raise concerns about transparency in “future matches”, is that the sponsor for V.League is also sponsoring 5 clubs in V.League and 7 clubs in the First Division. Of course, we appreciate and acknowledge the sponsor’s efforts, but suppose one day, they no longer invest in football…
Of course no one wants to imagine what that moment of truth will be like, but remember, “giving up the game like that” has been happening for many years.
