V.League 1 season to be resumed behind closed doors
VOV.VN - The 2021 V.League 1 season is scheduled to see the return of fixtures on July 31, although it is highly likely that matches will be held in concentrated venues in the north of the country and played behind closed doors without fans.
According to a new proposal put forward by the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF), the remaining league matches will take place in nine stadiums behind closed doors as a means of avoiding the potential spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This comes after the 13th round of V.League 1 games was forced to be postponed in May due to the impact of the pandemic.
Moving forward, the domestic league is set to resume in late July in order to allow three local sides, including Viettel FC, Hanoi FC, and Saigon FC, time to compete in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League and AFC Cup in June.
Furthermore, the Vietnam national team and the U22 squad will take part in some gatherings as a means of preparing for future international fixtures. This includes the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in September, the 2021 ASEAN Football Confederation (AFF) Cup, and the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games which will be played later this year.
The VPF has also proposed that the remaining V.League 1 matches conclude on September 30 to allow footballers time to join the national team ahead of international fixtures.
