The tournament is still difficult
One of the contents discussed at the 8th Executive Committee of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), the IXth Session is to adjust the foreigner for clubs in the National First Division and V.League. With the first division, for the first time in 10 years, the teams will be registered for a foreigner in the force since the season 2025-2026.
However, this content does not appear in the general statement from the Vietnam Football Federation. Perhaps, VFF and VPF themselves also encroach on the influence of the First Division registration. The concern of the two Vietnamese football management organizations in general and Vietnamese professional football is grounded. Because in fact, the national first division does not have a strong financial foundation like the V.League.
Not to mention, right in the preparation period for this season, the National First Division witnessed 4 clubs withdrawing due to financial difficulties. Two of them, Long An and Dinh Huong Phu Nhuan, withdrew because of the story of money spent. Meanwhile, it is also necessary to rely on support from local leaders, sponsors, VFF as well as VPF, Khanh Hoa and Dong Nai to solve the funding problem to continue operating at the tournament.
2 years ago, also in the first division, the Can Tho club dissolved. The team could not pay the player, the sponsor asked for withdrawal. The City People's Committee is helpless in finding "sponsors" for Can Tho club. According to research, the average budget for a first -class team operates at 25 billion/year. This figure is only half of the floor level in the V.League.
However, not every First Division team can guarantee this number. Many teams have to struggle to maintain a modest salary fund, ranging from 200 to 300 million VND/month, equivalent to about 2-3 billion VND/year. This figure may not be anything compared to the "eagles" in the V.League, but for the First Division, ensuring spending sources is already an effort in the context of local budget revenue and sponsors being only modest.
easily imbalancing the tournament
To register a foreign player, V.League clubs spend a minimum of 10,000 USD/month (250 million VND). At the most economical level, an average Western player would also like to receive from 5,000 to 8,000 USD/month (more than 100 million VND).
Taking the financial situation of many First Division teams above and the minimum income of a foreign player on the scale, it is easy to predict a scenario. That is, many teams will shake their heads to select foreign players, to avoid falling into the current predictable salary fund failure.
Of course, the First Division still has "rich men". Typical examples in this year's season are Phu Dong Ninh Binh and Truong Tuoi Binh Phuoc. These two clubs have spent tens of billions of VND to get Hoang Duc, Van Lam or Cong Phuong... With an abundant budget, they can easily recruit "heavyweight" foreign players at high fees.
Invisibly, the gap between First Division clubs is further reduced. Remember, in this season, even without foreign players, Phu Dong Ninh Binh or Binh Phuoc have become significantly stronger than the rest, thanks to gathering a series of veteran players in the previous V.League.
More than 10 years ago, the First Class also had foreign soldiers and the majority of the teams did not have enough financial abundance to buy foreign players. Facing that fact, the regulations on foreign soldiers in the First Division thus disappeared throughout the past decade. Perhaps, also viewed from the pink scenario, VFF and VPF have not yet mentioned the foreign regulations in the official content of the VFF Executive Committee.
