>> Hanoi ACB cheats relegation with capital merger

>> Hanoi football team hints at merger to avoid relegation

>> Hanoi team faces referee disciplinary

Chairman of relegation-reprieved Hanoi ACB football team Nguyen Duc Kien spoke out about what he described as a series of problems facing Vietnam’s V-League top division.

Hanoi ACB Chairman Nguyen Duc Kien at the meeting

At a meeting on September 8 to review V-League 2011, Kien issued his criticism after Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) leaders claimed a clean bill of health for the game in their close of season V-League 2011 report.

Kien castigated the report, saying that, “Over the past decade, the report mostly remains unchanged. Do you think that we are 1st and 2nd grade school children?”

He added that, “At least seven clubs have rung me, expressing their plan to withdraw from V-League after the 2011 season. I wanted to share their concern here,” noting that they were ready to launch a new league touted as the Super Liga.

“I thought that their reactions were negative, and advised them to frankly contribute their opinions to the VFF. Football investors have a wide range of concerns, but the VFF and V-League organisers continue to ignore them,” Kien emphasised.

According to Kien, the standard of refereeing has worsened and proved drawbacks. He reminded the meeting of several controversial refereeing decisions by Tran Cong Trong and Nguyen Van Quyet in matches featuring Vicem Haiphong.

“Organisers can easily recognise negative situations, but the importance is that whether they are brave enough to deal with them. With my financial capacity, I could buy 5 to 10 clubs, but will never spend a cent on referees,” Kien went on.

The chairman said, “Hoa Phat decided to leave liquidate itself because they had lost confidence in the V-League. What will happen if all companies withdraw from the tournament? I’m disappointed by the VFF’s work so far.”

He blamed the VFF for a dismal season of managment. Kien also urged the VFF to deal with a situation where one person can still own several teams in the same tournament in order to create an equal playing field.

Kien said he is now a major shareholder of Kien Long Bank which finances Kien Giang Football Club, and that he would sell his entire stake in the team before the team began its V-League fixtures.

VFF official disappointed

VFF Vice Chairman Le Hung Dung

After hearing Kien’s criticism at the meeting, Vice Chairman of the VFF Le Hung Dung also voiced his disappointment at the federation.

Dung, who has a stake in Vietnam Export Import Bank (Eximbank), the main V-League sponsor, also pointed out VFF shortcomings.

“Football is a sport for all people; therefore, everything should be transparent. I think that refereeing was a problem in V-League last season. The National Referee Council does not operate consistently and many of its members continue to make mistakes,” the official added.

According to Dung, the VFF recognised the wrongdoings but had done little to settle the problems. He proposed the council impose lifetime bans on referees Tran Cong Trong and Nguyen Van Quyet, if not he threatened to reconsider the sponsorship.

He suggested the VFF should revise the operations of the National Referee Council. He said that a situation where a son and son-in-law of the council chairman were selected as major referees was a cause of public concern.

Dung also urged the V-League organising board to consider role of the Head of the board Duong Nghiep Khoi and General Secretary Tran Quoc Tuan, urging that replacements should be considered if necessary.

Regarding broadcasting rights for the V-League 2012 season, AVG announced plans to broadcast matches for free to stations who wanted to cover the matches. At least 20 local televisions have registered for AVG’s services.

Refereeing remained a problem during the V-League 2011 season