V. League 1 football back in action next month

By Lam Thoa May 13, 2020 | 08:00 pm PT

Thanh Hoa (yellow) play HCMC FC in a V. League 1 match in the empty Thong Nhat Stadium in HCMC, March 15, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong.

Vietnam's topflight football league, V. League 1, will officially restart early next month with a new format after a long pandemic-induced break.

General Secretary Le Hoai Anh of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) said the league will have a total of 134 games, including 14 that already took place in March. These will be played June 5 to October 25. Then, 14 clubs will be divided into two groups with the top eight teams in Group A competing for the first to third places, and the bottom six facing one another to determine the last spot for being relegated.

This season, only one V. League 1 team (14th place) will be relegated to V. League 2 and one champion team from V. League 2 will get promoted. In previous seasons, the 13rd place team at V. League 1 entered a play-off with V. League 2's second-place team to decide if they would be relegated as well.

The 2020 National Cup, meanwhile, will retain its single knockout match format with a total of 25 matches divided into five rounds. It is scheduled to take place from May 23 to October 31.

The number of substitutions has also been adjusted for V. League 2020. Each team can substitute five players in a match, instead of the usual three.

Spectators will be allowed in limited numbers, Anh said.

Vietnamese footballers will undergo a tight schedule since the national team also needs time to prepare for the AFF Cup and World Cup 2022 qualifiers set to be played later this year.