V. League fails to return as scheduled amid Covid-19

By Xuan Binh July 9, 2021 | 03:42 am PT

Hoang Anh Gia Lai forward and national player Nguyen Van Toan in V. League 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Dong.

V. League won't resume on July 31 as initially planned due to the complicated Covid-19 situation in the country.

On Thursday, Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) confirmed the plan to commence V. League, National Cup and National Women’s Football Championship has been stopped. A new date for these competitions remains undecided.

In June, the VPF director said V. League would be played in centralized northern venues at a hectic schedule, so the national team would have time to prepare for upcoming tournaments. However, the league can only continue when the pandemic situation is well-controlled.

According to the original plan, V. League is set to wrap up on August 22. Later, the national team would gather to prepare for the final World Cup qualification round in September. But since the schedule was changed, national team training could be affected.

Since the new wave hit on April 27, Vietnam has recorded over 21,000 cases of Covid-19 in 56 of its 63 cities and provinces. Of these, Ho Chi Minh City has more than 9,000 cases.