Quang Ninh subsidises local football players following wages suffering
Authorities in Quang Ninh Province have just awarded the local football team VND500 million (USD21,739) for their outstanding achievements in the V-League.
The decision was announced by the Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee on April 9 right after many players of the Than Quang Ninh Football Club shared on their Facebook accounts about being owed salaries for eight months.
In their recent Facebook status, some players including Mac Hong Quan, Nghiem Xuan Tu, and Hai Huy called on the provincial authorities and the club's leaders to pay them salaries which have been delayed since September 2020 as well as some bonuses dating back since the end of 2019.
"We've worked hard and made lots of efforts to overcome the hard time faced by the club," they wrote in their Facebook posts. "They have made a lot of promises to pay us but we have yet received any payment so far."
The players also threatened to leave if they don't receive the payment now.
"We’ll stop playing from the ninth round of V-League 2021 if the money isn’t paid," they wrote. We’ll also end our contracts with the club."
Striker Mac Hong Quan shared that he has lived on financial support sent by his wife from the Czech Republic over the past four months.
Meanwhile, defender Duong Van Khoa said that he had to borrow money from his mother-in-law to pay for his daughter's schooling.
Last week, many players walked out on training to protest against the slow payment until representatives from the Department of Culture and Sports came and promised to solve the problems.
The players then played in the 7th and 8th round matches. And the Quang Ninh team had done very well, beating strong teams including HCM City FC, Hai Phong FC and Thanh Hoa FC. After the first eight rounds of the V. League 2021 the club is second on the table with 18 points, one less than leader Hoang Anh Gia Lai.
However, leaving the field, the players were disappointed when local authorities failed to realise their payment promises.
Also on April 9, the Vietnam Professional Football Company (VPF) sent a letter to Than Quang Ninh Football Club, asking for their explanations about the slow salary payment to players.
VPF General Director, Nguyen Minh Ngoc said that the issue had badly affected the image of the club and the V-League as well.
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