Bau Thuy and VFF Term 10's 1,000 Billion VND Test

When the list of nominees for the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Executive Committee for Term 10 (2027-2031) was published, I opened my thick field notebook again. The pages had yellowed, but the lines about Tuesday morning training sessions in Pudong were still clear. Back then, I counted every metre run by a substitute player. Now, I count the lines in an election manifesto. The three nominees for the VFF presidency are Tran Quoc Tuan, the incumbent; Nguyen Xuan Vu, Vice President in charge of communications in Term 9; and Nguyen Duc Thuy, Vice Chairman of Sacombank's Board of Directors, widely known as Bau Thuy. A VFF election is rarely only about football. It is about money, power, and how a national federation stands on its own feet. I am not looking for who will win. I am looking for who is putting a different understanding of Vietnamese football's resources on the table.

One nominee list, three ways of seeing

VFF published the list of nominees for key positions and Executive Committee members for Term 10. Three candidates are nominated for the presidency. Tran Quoc Tuan represents continuity. Nguyen Xuan Vu represents communications experience and machine management. Nguyen Duc Thuy represents a corporate breeze, with an action programme that places revenue and socialisation at the centre. The notable point is that none of them can avoid the same reality. Vietnamese football needs more money, but it needs something more: a mechanism to spend money correctly and generate new money.

I have followed many VFF congresses. At each one, people speak of stability and development. Both words sound fine, but they often cover a difficult question: who is responsible when money does not create value? This time, Bau Thuy's programme sets measurable targets. He speaks of 600-1,000 billion VND per year from 2027. He speaks of a support package of 3 billion VND for each V-League club, 2 billion VND for each First Division club, and 2 billion VND for each women's club. He speaks of a 16-18 team V-League and an 18-20 team First Division. Those targets turn the election into a test of money-management capacity, not a contest of honour.

At 22, I counted every metre of a ritual; at 31, I understand it was a promise. The promise here is to hundreds of young players, dozens of clubs living on every sponsorship dong, and the women's football people who still have to ask for funding before every season. An action programme is not just a document. It is a commitment about how opportunities are allocated.

The 600-1,000 billion VND question: where does the money come from?

Nguyen Duc Thuy's programme aims to mobilise 600-1,000 billion VND per year from 2027 through socialisation and revenue from sponsorship, corporate partnerships, commercial rights, digital content, and football services. He commits to ensuring 100% of VFF's operating and development costs from socialised and self-generated revenue, without using the state budget.

This is a strong political commitment. It places VFF among federations that must be financially self-reliant. But it also raises a technical question: where does the 600-1,000 billion VND come from, and who controls that flow?

Looking at the revenue structure of football federations in the region, three pillars usually stand out: media rights, shirt and competition sponsorship, and national team revenue. VFF also has youth competitions, futsal, women's football, and services. But if it relies only on traditional sponsorship contracts, 600 billion VND a year is already a challenge. One thousand billion is much harder.

The core of the problem is not calling for more sponsors, but turning commercial rights into an ecosystem that can be valued, audited, and reinvested. If VFF wants to reach 1,000 billion VND, it must do three things at once. First, clearly separate VFF's commercial rights from those of VPF and the clubs. Second, create media products with real value, not just sell logos. Third, build the capacity to manage contracts, rights, data, and digital content professionally enough to avoid leakage.

I once saw a V-League club sign a three-year sponsorship contract, only for the sponsor to ask for a reduction in year two because the league changed its schedule. The contract had clauses, but clauses could not save trust. The same lesson applies at federation level: businesses do not just buy advertising. They buy stability, reputation, and predictability. To mobilise 1,000 billion VND, VFF must sell that stability.

Support packages and the structure of money

A notable point in Bau Thuy's programme is direct support. He proposes 2-3 billion VND per year for each qualified local federation; a package of 3 billion VND for each V-League club, 2 billion VND for each First Division club, and 2 billion VND for each women's club per season.

Anyone who has worked in grassroots football knows 2-3 billion VND is not small. For a local federation, 2 billion VND can pay coaches, organise youth tournaments, buy equipment, and maintain talent classes. For a women's club, 2 billion VND can mean allowances, better meals, and more stable accommodation. But 2-3 billion VND can also become a formally shared sum that changes nothing in quality.

I once sat in the stand at a women's match where the away team had only 14 players and two had to wash their own shirts. After the match, a young player asked me: 'When will we have our own training ground?' That question does not need 1,000 billion VND to answer. It needs a mechanism specific enough that 2 billion VND does not disappear into uncontrolled spending.

A support package only means something if it comes with disbursement conditions based on results: a pitch, a youth team, financial reports, and independent audit. Based on current scale - about 14 V-League clubs, 12 First Division clubs, 8 women's teams, and 63 local federations - total support could be around 208-271 billion VND per season. That changes when the leagues expand. With a 16-team V-League, 18-team First Division, 10 women's teams, and 3 billion VND for each local federation, total support could reach about 293 billion VND. With an 18-team V-League and 20-team First Division, it could be around 303 billion VND.

So direct support accounts for about half or less of the 600-1,000 billion VND target. The rest must go to national teams, youth development, referees, women's football, facilities, technology, and operations. That is why the programme cannot be only about sharing money. It is about designing a national football budget.

A 16-18 team V-League: expansion for what?

Nguyen Duc Thuy wants VFF to work with VPF, clubs, and experts to study expanding the V-League and First Division, increasing playing opportunities for players, especially young graduates. He proposes a 16-18 team V-League and an 18-20 team First Division.

Expansion increases matches, rights revenue, and opportunities for young players. But it also dilutes quality if entry conditions are not controlled. An 18-team V-League with 8 title contenders and 10 relegation battlers will produce more matches, but not necessarily better ones.

Based on my experience following matches, the quality of a league is not in the number of teams. It is in the gap between the strongest and weakest. When the gap is too large, the league loses competitiveness. When it is too small, it can be attractive but lack a peak. V-League sits between those states. Expanding to 16-18 teams will test league management, not just stadiums.

One point must be faced: many V-League clubs still live on funding from their parent companies. When the league expands, the number of clubs needing funding rises. If VFF does not create new revenue from rights, tickets, data, and digital content, expansion may increase the burden on clubs. A 3 billion VND support package will not cover it. It can only serve as seed money for clubs to reorganise.

Expansion only succeeds with strict licensing standards: stadiums, youth teams, financial reports, and a commitment not to withdraw mid-season. I remember a season when three clubs asked to postpone matches because they could not afford travel. Fans still came, but trust was gone. An expanded league without financial standards will repeat that story at a larger scale. The beat keeper must not fall asleep in the cheers. Cheers can hide a club in crisis, but they cannot hide a balance sheet.

Women's football: from 8-10 teams to an ecosystem

Bau Thuy's programme aims to build a women's football system of 8-10 teams capable of stable operation. V-League clubs are encouraged to establish women's teams, link with or sponsor them to expand participation. Connecting academies, schools, clubs, and localities is also meant to create a continuous pathway combining competition, education, and healthcare.

This is the least covered part, but it may be the most sustainable. Vietnamese women's football has good regional results, but the foundation is thin. Many players must choose between competition and education. Many women's clubs operate season by season without long-term contracts. When VFF targets 8-10 stable teams, it is moving from competition management to system management.

I once asked a women's coach what mattered most. She said: 'A schedule I know in advance.' A known schedule means players can arrange work, family, and study. It also means sponsors can plan. A 2 billion VND package per women's club only has value with a stable schedule and a mechanism to check spending.

Women's football does not need verbal priority; it needs to be treated as a product with audiences, contracts, and commercial rights. If V-League clubs establish women's teams, they can use stadiums, medical staff, communications, and management. But if they do it formally, they will create teams that exist only on paper. VFF needs minimum standards: squad size, matches, nutrition, medical care, and education. A women's team cannot grow if players have to worry about every meal.

People, referees, and international presence

The programme targets training at least 20 staff in foreign languages, governance, and professional skills from 2027; and striving for at least 5-10 Vietnamese personnel to be recruited, appointed, or regularly assigned at AFF, AFC, and FIFA by 2030. For referees, the goal is intensive investment in about 10-20 promising referees and assistant referees, increasing chances of appointment to major Asian matches.

These are right directions, but hard to measure. Training 20 staff is not difficult if only classes are counted. The difficulty is creating an environment where they can work afterwards. Presence at AFF, AFC, and FIFA needs more than languages. It needs reputation, relationships, expertise, and domestic support.

I saw a young referee sent abroad for training, returning with a good certificate, only to receive no significant appointments for two seasons. The reason was not expertise. It was the appointment mechanism and the lack of a patron in the system. Investing in 10-20 promising referees will be wasted if VFF does not create a transparent appointment path, public criteria, and periodic evaluation.

A strong federation is not measured by seats at AFF, AFC, or FIFA, but by how many Vietnamese can sit in those seats and actually work. On international cooperation, Thuy aims to expand relations with top clubs, organise matches, exchanges, and training in Vietnam. Hosting continental and world events will be studied if conditions and standards are met. This is right, but it must not become formal exchanges. A friendly against a big club only matters if it generates revenue, media value, and lessons for Vietnamese clubs.

Governance, transparency, and conflicts of interest

Nguyen Duc Thuy stresses that all mobilised resources must be used for the right purposes, publicly, transparently, with audits and supervision by VFF members. He also says effectiveness must be judged on actual results, with a monitoring mechanism from members.

This is the most important part. A federation can raise 1,000 billion VND, but without supervision, money creates conflicts of interest and destroys trust. Thuy is Vice Chairman of Sacombank and head of Ninh Binh Club. He has corporate governance experience, but also interests in football. VFF needs a transparent mechanism to separate personal contribution from group interest.

Transparency is not publishing a financial report once a year; it is letting every VFF member see where money goes, who approves it, and who is responsible when things go wrong. An effective monitoring mechanism needs three layers. The first is independent audit with public reports. The second is internal supervision by the Executive Committee and subcommittees. The third is social supervision by media, fans, and professional bodies. Without the third, VFF supervises itself, and history shows self-supervision is often ineffective.

I once heard a line at a sports seminar: 'Money does not make football rich; the way money is spent does.' That applies to VFF now. 600-1,000 billion VND is worth pursuing, but without a money-governance system, the target can become pressure and risk.

The contrarian view: do not confuse rich with strong

Public opinion easily reads the VFF election as a contest between money and incumbency. That misses a point: VFF does not lack absolute money. It lacks the mechanism to turn money into football value. If people focus only on the 600-1,000 billion VND figure, they may skip questions about allocation, control, and measurement.

There is a paradox in Vietnamese football. Clubs can spend tens of billions on a player, but many academies lack training pitches. Big matches sell out, but youth tournaments lack funding. VFF can sign big sponsorship deals, but local federations still ask for funds each season. Wealth and development do not automatically go together.

The biggest risk for VFF Term 10 is not failing to raise enough money, but raising money without changing how it operates. A strong VFF needs three capacities: commercial capacity to generate revenue, governance capacity to allocate resources, and sporting capacity to turn resources into results. Without the second, money flows into spending that creates no value. Without the third, money creates short-term pressure. Thuy's programme mentions all three, but with different levels of detail.

The commercial part has clear targets. The governance part has a transparency commitment. The sporting part has expansion, women's football, and personnel training. What is missing is a priority roadmap. What will VFF do first, what later, and how will it measure? If every goal is important, none is truly prioritised.

I think VFF should start with three things in year one. First, publish the full current revenue and cost structure. Second, build club licensing standards linked to support packages. Third, establish an independent monitoring council with clubs, players, and financial experts. These do not need 1,000 billion VND. They need will.

Those who stay and their questions

In every election, people remember the winner. But football is run by those who stay. They are young coaches in poor districts, women players who work and train, referees who buy their own boots, and communications staff at a First Division club waiting for wages. Any candidate's programme will be measured by their lives.

I remember a women's training session on an uneven pitch. A player sprained her ankle, but the team had no doctor. The coach used a homemade ice bag. When I asked about the 2 billion VND support package, she smiled: 'If it is real, I only ask for a doctor and a training pitch.' That answer reminds me that every big policy must pass through small needs.

A training ground is a stage without spectators, where supporting actors rehearse as leads. There are no fans, no media, only players and coaches. If VFF Term 10 wants real change, it must reach those training grounds. Not with a visit, but with a financial mechanism simple enough for beneficiaries to access.

What will be written in the notebook?

The pitch never lies; only the watcher tells the truth. What is promised in an action programme will be tested by young players' matches, women's teams surviving the season, referees appointed in Asia, and clubs not withdrawing for lack of money. Those are measures that cannot be faked with slogans.

I do not expect one term to solve every problem in Vietnamese football. I expect a term that dares to set verifiable targets and take responsibility for missing them. 600-1,000 billion VND is a big target. But if VFF reaches only 400 billion VND while money is transparent, clubs truly benefit, and women's football has a stable schedule, that is still a successful term. Conversely, if VFF reaches 1,000 billion VND but nobody knows where it went, that is a failure.

The beat keeper must not fall asleep in the cheers. The cheers of an election pass quickly. What remains are contracts, reports, training grounds, and players. I will write in my notebook the date the nominee list was published, the three names, and the targets. In a few years, I will reopen that page and compare. That is how I work. And it is how Vietnamese football should compare itself.

I write not to be read, but so the pitch has a witness. A federation can promise 1,000 billion VND. A football nation truly changes only when every dong is seen, checked, and turned into opportunity for those who play. The final question for VFF Term 10 is simple: after four years, who will benefit from those support packages, and who will answer if they never reach the training ground?