Japanese expert Kazuyoshi Tanabe, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Professional Football Company (VPF), said how to attract fans to return to V.League’s football matches should be the top priority.

 The V.League has continued to fail in attacting supporters to stadiums

Statistics showed that over the past four years, the average match attendances of 10,326 after the national squad became the champion in the Southeast Asia. The figure dropped to 8,297 in 2010; 7,395 in 2011 and 7,760 in 2012.

In V.League 2009 and V.League 2010, Vicem Haiphong topped among football clubs in terms of ticket revenues. The club earned around VND1 billion (USD47,600). While the 20,000-capacity Lach Tray Stadium was always full.

The low quality of V.League matches is the main reason for the reduction in crowd numbers. Although costing hundreds of billions per year, matches remain unappealing.

Besides the quality, V.League has faced public suspicions over the fixing of matches.

In 2008, Referee Nguyen Xuan Hoa was suspended for four matches for awarding a goal to Dong Tam Long An, but then changing his mind due to pressure from SHB Danang players and officials.

In the final round of V.League 2012, Hanoi T&T played on the defensive in the match with Xuan Thanh Saigon, helping SHB Danang to win the cup, leading to accusations they deliberately threw the game. Hanoi T&T and SHB Danang were both owned by Mr. Do Quang Hien.

Nguoi Dua Tin Newspaper cited Tran Xuan Vui, Chairman of Thanh Hoa Club’s Fan Association, said, “We don’t care about weather when our home team plays. We’re willing to come to support them. The most important thing is that how players will play. Possibly, in the final round, the fans knew that many players would underperform so fans don’t want to see the matches. Fans aren’t stupid, we’re not interested in attending matches when we know it’s a fraud.”

Infrastructure is also a problem in many Vietnamese stadiums.

Changing way to attract fans

The V.League has continued to fail in attracting supporters to stadiums.

Xuan Thanh Saigon Club have even resorted to inviting singers to perform at half time and free beer.

Vo Quoc Thang, Chairman of Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) said, “When I went to Japan, I was impressed by the full stadiums there. The VPF has signed a co-operative agreement with J-League and we will learn from the Japanese about how to attract more fans to Vietnamese football.”

Mr. Thang also said that Japanese players often visited schools to provide football training, which helped connect players and fans.