Goals of Vietnamese sports in the period 2030-2045
In the Strategy for the Development of Vietnam's Physical Training and Sports to 2030, with a vision to 2045 issued by the Prime Minister, the goal of high-performance sports is to maintain a position in the Top 3 at the SEA Games and Top 20 at the ASIADs; in which, striving to achieve 5 to 7 Gold Medals at the ASIADs, medals at the Olympics and Paralympics; men's football in the Top 10 in Asia and women's football in the Top 8 in Asia.
Notably, in the orientation to 2045, the destination of high-performance sports is to regularly maintain the Top 2 at the SEA Games, Top 15 at the ASIAD and Top 50 at the Olympics; men's football in the Top 8 in Asia and qualify for the World Cup; women's football in the Top 6 in Asia and qualify for the World Cup.
On the sidelines of the Vietnam Sports Development Strategy Conference held on November 12, Mr. Dang Ha Viet - Director of the Department of Sports and Physical Training - said: "To achieve these goals, first of all, there must be coordination between the Central and local levels, unification of the direction of sports investment, key Olympic sports, as well as close combination between physical facilities, coaches, regimes and policies for athletes, from which we can attract human resources. Another important thing is the application of science and technology. For football, we will implement synchronous solutions, including attracting overseas Vietnamese athletes to compete. This is considered an important solution for the current development trend."
According to Mr. Dang Ha Viet, the sports industry must boldly recognize and address limitations to come up with appropriate directions.
Need to synchronize training and competition systems
Regarding the goals of Vietnamese sports, at the recent Strategy Conference, Mr. Nguyen Hong Minh - former Director of the Department of High Performance Sports, - shared: “After the 19th ASIAD and the 2024 Paris Olympics, public opinion is not satisfied with the achievements of Vietnamese sports, especially when compared to the countries right next to us, not to mention the sports powerhouses. That is also a question mark on the minds of those working in sports. Regarding strategy, one issue I would like to suggest is that we should not set the goal of Top 2, Top 3 on the medal table, but instead strive to be at the top of the SEA Games in ASIAD and Olympic sports such as weightlifting, shooting, archery, athletics…”.
Mr. Minh suggested that it is necessary to unify the competition system of the sports and contents at the National Sports Festival, starting from training in localities. The Festival needs practical adjustments, not changes to a larger scale. Through the Festival, the sports industry can select athletes to prepare for international competitions.
Mr. Tran Anh Tu - Vice President of Vietnam Football Federation - said: "Currently, football does not really have a synchronous, consistent and drastic direction in football activities, the work of selecting and training young football talents, at the clubs there are still many differences due to human resources and technical equipment, leading to a lack of connection between the lines, the next generation of athletes to create a source for professional football clubs and national football teams. Ensuring standards, infrastructure systems, football fields and football training facilities nationwide is still different".
Therefore, the VFF representative hopes that units need to research, develop investment plans, synchronize conditions for organizing football training and competitions, ensuring investment efficiency and long-term development. The Vietnam Football Federation will focus on investing in players aged 17 to 20 (from 2023) when the time comes to organize the FIFA World Cup 2030 and 2034, these players are aged from 24-25 to 28, which is the "golden" age for top football.
