One of the three capital-based football clubs will be forced to leave Hang Day Stadium in the 2023-2024 season, as requested by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) are considering support plans for the clubs during this transition.
At the end of 2023, the VFF received a letter from AFC requesting the implementation of regulations on organizing professional football leagues. According to the AFC, the national championship must be held in a home and away format and allows a maximum of 2 clubs to share one stadium. Currently, Hang Day Stadium is the home ground for three clubs: Hanoi FC, Hanoi Police FC, and The Cong Viettel. None of these clubs own Hang Day Stadium, which is managed by the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports under the Hanoi People’s Committee.
On January 22nd, a representative from one of the three clubs stated, “According to the letter from VFF and VPF, if the three clubs continue to share one stadium in the 2023-2024 season, VFF will not qualify for a direct slot in the AFC club competitions from the 2024-2025 season and onwards. This direct slot will be transferred to another member federation. We are quite worried as we received this notice after the season has already started for 8 rounds, and all plans related to infrastructure, media, advertising, etc., have been developed from the start of the season, so it’s not simple to just say we’re moving stadiums immediately. A transition plan is needed. Moreover, we are very keen to stay at Hang Day Stadium.”
The VFF has assigned the VPF to monitor and support the three clubs in implementing a plan where one of them moves to another stadium that meets the standards. In Hanoi, there are some natural grass stadiums (suitable for 11-a-side matches), but to meet the professional league standards, besides Hang Day Stadium, only My Dinh Stadium is available. The relocation of the stadium, as recommended by AFC “as soon as possible”, is very challenging. Therefore, the VPF hopes that the three clubs will meet to discuss and negotiate which team will have to leave Hang Day Stadium before reporting to the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports. The final decision does not belong to the VFF or VPF but to the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports.
The VFF and VPF are also considering another plan, where the teams might need to submit a proposal to the VPF so that the VPF has a basis to report to the VFF, about requesting permission from AFC to postpone the stadium transition to the 2024-2025 season, as it is difficult to implement this season.
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