The most important task of Vietnamese sports in 2024 is to participate in the Olympics in Paris, France. Trinh Thu Vinh, Nguyen Thuy Linh, Le Duc Phat, Nguyen Thi That... although they could not win medals, still tried their best to compete in the prestigious arena.
Besides the Olympics, the national teams also achieved many other achievements such as the Vietnamese volleyball team won 3rd place at the FIVB Challenger Cup, won the AVC Challenge Cup; the Vietnamese canoeing team won 3 Asian gold medals or the pencak silat team won more than 10 gold medals at the world championship...
However, in addition to those outstanding achievements, Vietnamese sports still experienced a number of negative incidents that affected the overall picture in 2024.
The first case was the case of athlete Pham Nhu Phuong of the national gymnastics team accusing coach Nguyen Thuy Duong (Hanoi unit) of collecting 10% of medal bonuses and 50% of bonus money from athletes.
The Department of Sports and Physical Training has inspected and verified that coaches Nguyen Thuy Duong and Nguyen Ha Thanh violated regulations on collecting bonuses from athletes, and at the same time issued a disciplinary decision to dismiss them from coaching positions.
In addition, regarding the overstatement of Sunday training wages for the national team, the Department of Physical Education and Sports discovered many violations and loopholes in management. Therefore, this unit also dismissed the coaching work of head coaches Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy and Do Thi Ngan Thuong.
Notably, coach Ngan Thuong was the one who collected 10% of the medal bonus, 50% of the bonus, and illegally collected funds from another athlete, Lam Nhu Quynh.
Another scandal also occurred at the 2024 Ho Chi Minh City Youth Karate Tournament when the parent of an athlete born in 2013 (Tan Binh District) spoke up to denounce the giving and giving of medals.
The Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City has intervened, the information about "giving up the medal" is not verified, it is just a verbal exchange between the parties. Ms. Mong Tam Mong Tam - Head of the Tan Binh District karate team herself also did not admit to making this statement when reporting to the management unit, the Tan Binh District Culture and Sports Center. Binh Thanh District also sent a document emphasizing that there was no contact with Ms. Mong Tam.
However, the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City also decided to warn and suspend all professional coaching activities and participation in city-level sports competitions for a period of 1 year for coach Nguyen Thi Mong Tam because of the statement "even if you fight, you will lose".
According to the Department, this statement by Ms. Mong Tam (she herself admitted) is not in line with the ethical standards of a coach, causing great conflict and public outrage. The Department also requested that Ms. Tam's management unit take appropriate disciplinary action.
Looking towards 2025, Vietnamese sports have many important tasks, especially the 33rd SEA Games taking place in Thailand. Since the beginning of the year, national teams have had training and practice plans to prepare for important tournaments.
In addition to professional work, Vietnamese sports also need to eliminate negative side stories so that athletes can fully focus on national tasks.
