VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese Football Federation (VFF) has been accused of wastefulness and ineffectiveness both in operations and training activities.

Newly-selected U16 team of VFF.

Recently, the Hoang Anh Gia Lai – Arsenal JMG Academy, a football academy built cooperatively by Arsenal FC and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Corporation, introduced a promising U19 team, and while the team received much praise and recognition from the fans, the Vietnam Youth Football Training Centre of VFF has shown no such action.

VFF was able to get on FIFA's Goal Project list which aims to help football development in various countries, but it seems that VFF has always managed to overspend the cash support they received. In 2001, for instance, FIFA gave VFF USD400,000 to build its headquarters, yet VFF still had to ask for an extra USD100,000 from the State to complete the building. Currently, this building is being leased out.

In 2006, FIFA provided USD400,000 to build a youth training centre and, VFF had to ask for additional funds, again from the State, to build a VND60 billion (USD2.8 million) training centre with two fields. Instead the completed centre has four fields and cost VND140 billion.

When being questioned about their ineffective use of funds, head of VFF Nguyen Trong Hy said, "It should have been called the 'National Football Centre' but we had to name it the Vietnam Youth Football Training Centre to attract financial support from FIFA and the State."

VFF chairman Nguyen Trong Hy.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will not provide such a huge fund for just a training centre because football clubs can rent fields for training purposes in My Dinh Stadium or Sport Training Centre no1. The rental cost for a 90 minute match at Vietnam Youth Football Training Centre is VND1.5 million but its management as well as its other costs are still unclear.

This centre is a huge waste and in September 2013, in an attempt to select male trainees for the U16 team and female trainees for the U19 team, VFF sought out VND56 billion from the state and USD500,000 from FIFA.

This is seen as additional waste because football clubs refused to provide their good players to VFF. Even coach Le Tuan Long at Vietnam Youth Training Centre said, "Youngsters at the age of 16 are not really right for this program because basic training works best on children of 11-13."

Many readers have voiced their opposition and said VFF is wasting billions from the state budget, similar to the Vinalines corruption case.

VFF says it doesn't waste the State Budget

After being accused of wasting the State Budget, Vietnam Football Federation's chairman, Nguyen Trong Hy, has denied this charge and said they always follow correct procedures.

In response, Hy said the money they received has always been controlled by the General Department of Sports and Physical Training and FIFA. "The money which we received in 2007 has been spent on ground clearance and construction. Actually, the centre isn't yet completed so we can't use it for training, but we're still following the procedures and the plans." he said.

Hy went on to say that they are not in charge of the fund and FIFA checks on the project every year so if  VFF commits any violations, FIFA will cancel its support immediately.

Hy also said the VND8 billion will all be used to upgrade equipment and pay staff wages; there'll be nothing left over.  Furthermore, they also need the fund to invite foreign coaches and teachers to teach the players.

" The female team is our top priority. We can only recruit younger students after the U16 male team and U19 female team graduate." Hy said. "Our plan to recruit trainees for the Asian Games will help children from disadvantaged areas. After their training is completed, we'll send them back to their clubs. I know there are some very cautious clubs that don't want to send their players to us, but the fact is the trainees will have their accommodations paid for and they can still go to classes."

DTriNews/LD