Coach Park quells rumors of new salary demands

The head coach of the Vietnamese men’s football team told the press that he was concerned about recent media reports about his agent demanding huge salary in the contract renewal.

"My agent has only met VFF once, but on Vietnamese and South Korean media, I saw many incorrect articles giving negative predictions on my new contract with VFF.

"I hope the fans can understand my point. There was no money talk involved and no number has been mentioned. I’m worried that the fans may have misunderstood the salary issue," Park told VnExpress.

It was reported earlier that Park was demanding $100,000 a month, which would cost the VFF $2 million a year including tax and bonuses. He currently gets $20,000 a month.

Park said that in order to avoid any incorrect information being given out in the future, he and his agent plan to issue official statements to the fans.

"From now on, if there is any meeting between me and the VFF, my agent will make a press statement in English and send it to the media agencies. I hope they will use it to deliver correct information to the fans."

Park’s contract expires on January 31, 2020 and negotiation to renew it started two weeks ago, with VFF hoping to secure a two-year deal. During his tenure, Vietnam were runners-up at the AFC U23 Championship in January 2018, finished fourth in the Asian Games last August, won the 2018 AFF Cup, and entered the last eight of the 2019 Asian Cup.

At the Tuesday press conference, Park also explained his selection of the U22 team, which takes place July 8-10.

"The reason I didn’t call popular players up this time is because it can affect their clubs. The players that I have called up for this session are the ones who rarely get the chance to play or are playing in the first division. This is a suitable time to test their skills and ability.

In the next two months, I want to search for new faces, before calling up 30 players for the main training session in September," he said.

The U22 team will have five training sessions together from July to September. In October, the team will gather for 45 days to prepare for SEA Games 30 in the Philippines, which will take place from November 25 to December 11. After many successes under Park, Vietnam has set the target to win their first football gold at SEA Games after 50 years.