On the night of August 12 (Vietnam time), the official website of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) released information about the case of the Vietnam U21 women's volleyball team athlete.
The announcement stated: "After concerns about the Vietnam Volleyball Federation including an unqualified player in the national U21 team to participate in the U21 Women's Volleyball World Championship in Indonesia, FIVB has conducted an investigation according to its regulations.
The investigation concluded that the player did not meet the conditions under Article 12.2 of the FIVB Disciplinary Regulations in 2023. Therefore, according to Article 13.5.2 of the event Regulations and Article 14.4 of the Disciplinary Regulations, the FIVB Disciplinary Subcommittee has issued a verdict that the matches of the Vietnam U21 team in which players participate will be canceled and players will be eliminated from the tournament, effective immediately.
According to Article 14.4 of the Disciplinary Regulations and considering the details of the incident, the FIVB Disciplinary Subcommittee will transfer the dossier to the FIVB Disciplinary Council for further appraisal of potential penalties that may be applied after the tournament. At that time, the Vietnam Volleyball Federation and the athletes will be invited to provide their views in writing.
The FIVB will not comment further on this issue while the process is still ongoing."
Thus, with this announcement, the Vietnam women's volleyball team will have the results of the first 4 matches in the group stage canceled, including 3 wins against Indonesia, Serbia, Canada and a loss to Argentina, equivalent to 9 points.
According to the latest ranking update, U21 Vietnam fell to the bottom of Group A with 3 points (1 win against Puerto Rico). Coach Nguyen Trong Linh and his team cannot participate in the round of 16, but will compete in the 17-24 rankings.
According to the match schedule from FIVB, the U21 Vietnam women's team will meet U21 Egypt in the qualifying match at 13:00 on August 13.
Previously, speaking with reporters, Mr. Le Tri Truong - General Secretary of the Vietnam Volleyball Federation said: "The organizing committee wishes to check the registration documents of athletes Dang Thi Hong and Nguyen Phuong Quynh. We have complied with regulations and sent the athletes' documents according to certificates from Vietnam to Indonesia.
However, it must be affirmed that Dang Thi Hong and Phuong Quynh have registered to compete and play at the 2024 U20 Asian Youth Women's Volleyball Championship. Next, the players will compete in the first matches of the 2025 U21 Women's Volleyball World Cup.
If the organizing committee wants to check the records of the athletes, it must do so and request it right at the technical meeting before the tournament. Players who are playing but have not been able to play will affect their professional quality".
General Secretary Le Tri Truong also emphasized that the Vietnam Volleyball Federation has sent a document to the technical expertise department of the World Volleyball Federation (FIVB) requesting specific work, not affecting the competitive expertise of the athletes.
