Following the Australian Football Association's objection to the venue for Vietnam's home match against Australia on September 7, the AFC recently sent an official letter to the Vietnam Football Association (VFA), explicitly requesting the VFA to make the necessary renovations to the Mai Dinh Stadium in Hanoi in accordance with the established "standards" before October 28 to ensure Vietnam's The Vietnam Football Association (VFA) has sent an official letter to the Vietnam Football Association (VFA). Otherwise, the AFC will have the right to request Vietnam to change the home stadium for the match.
In the face of this demand, officials from the Vietnam Football Association and the Ministry of Civilization, Travel and Sports, a Vietnamese government department, have made it clear that they will immediately launch a comprehensive overhaul in an effort to preserve the Vietnamese team's qualification as a home ground.
After the match on September 7, some coaches and players of the Australian team expressed their dissatisfaction with the conditions of the Meitei Stadium, which was even described by the media as a "cattle farm". The problems with the Meitei Stadium go beyond the quality of the turf, as there are also significant problems with the setup and division of other functional areas.
On September 23, local time, the Vietnamese media revealed that the Vietnam Football Association (VFA) has received a "warning letter" from the AFC. The letter not only criticized the quality of the turf of the Meitei Stadium, but also made specific comments on the organization and management of the September 7 game site, and accordingly put forward detailed rectification requirements for the future rounds of 12 matches. For example, the stadium's office space, sound equipment, lighting system and other facilities need to be upgraded in accordance with the "Big 12 standard".
The emergence of such problems was somehow expected. Because this is the first time that Vietnam has reached the final stage of the World Qualification Tournament, it is clear that the Vietnam Football Federation is inexperienced in dealing with the problems of such high-level tournaments.
It is reported that the Vietnam Football Association (VFA) has reported the matter to the relevant departments of the Vietnamese government. The Vietnamese government departments have also organized a special meeting for this purpose. The Vietnamese media reported that on September 21, the relevant head of the Ministry of Civilization, Travel and Sports of Vietnam personally led a team to visit the My Dinh Stadium and asked the Vietnam Football Association and the My Dinh Stadium to rectify the situation in strict accordance with the requirements of the AFC.
So far, it seems that Vietnam will host Japan and Saudi Arabia on November 11 and 16 respectively. According to the tournament regulations, the home team is required to finalize matters related to the playing field two weeks before the match. To this end, the AFC has requested that the stadium rectification be completed by October 28 and an on-site inspection be conducted. If the rectification work is not recognized by the AFC, the Vietnamese team may be forced to change their home stadium.
