Every year, Vietnamese sports need to participate in at least 700 tournaments out of a total of 2,500 organized tournaments (regional, continental, world). However, the state budget only ensures participation in 170 tournaments, which is less than 1/4 of the tournaments that need to be competed.
In 2023, the state budget will allocate about 900 billion VND for sports. In general, the picture of Vietnamese sports is very difficult. Therefore, the need for socialization and calling for investment from businesses and individuals is very necessary.
However, at present, the level of socialization of Vietnamese sports is not high, as most federations and associations have not done this well.
At the Vietnam Sports Economic Forum, Mr. Dang Ha Viet - Director of the Department of Physical Training and Sports - said: "The process of socializing the sports industry has both advantages and difficulties. The advantage is that over the past many years, legal documents and policies have all mentioned the socialization of sports.
Second, the development of the socio-economy is increasing, people's interest in sports is increasing. This is an industry that can do business and build a brand. Investing in organizing events attracts many businesses."
Mr. Viet also frankly pointed out the difficulties that make it difficult for Vietnamese sports to call for socialized resources, related to promoting businesses to invest, deploy joint ventures...
For example, the issue of bonuses, units and companies giving bonuses to athletes are still deducted from income tax, which is also a barrier to socialization.
"The Vietnam Olympic Committee, federations and associations have not fully promoted their functions and tasks, have not been proactive in calling for donations, and have not created events and values of their own to attract funding sources.
Only a few federations have called for socialized resources in training and selecting athletes to compete abroad. The rest, most federations only stop at calling for socialized resources for a few small-scale event organization activities," the Director of the Department of Physical Education and Sports added.
Another reality is that if we want to call for social resources, the expertise and achievements of Vietnamese sports need to be guaranteed. However, except for the SEA Games, we have not had good results in larger arenas such as the ASIAD or the Olympics.
Besides the professional factor, images and stories that have a negative impact and cause public outrage need to be strictly handled and gradually eliminated. To do so, it is still a matter of solving the income problem for coaches and athletes, ensuring that they only need to be dedicated to their work.
"Professional sports are likened to a locomotive that brings the sport closer to the people, leading to the development of the sports movement. When the movement develops, the related conditions of business and socialization also develop.
From there, the athletes' lives will be guaranteed, and they will have more jobs after retirement. In addition, this will be a condition for selecting high-achieving athletes," Mr. Dang Ha Viet emphasized.
