Vietnam football leagues to resume in May

But clubs might have to play behind closed doors for a while before they can welcome back spectators to guarantee safety.

In early May the VFF and the Vietnam Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) will set together to draw up a fresh fixtures list.

They had earlier announced a resumption on April 15 or May 1, but the pandemic situation has not permitted that.

The football season, comprising the V. League 1, National Cup and V. League 2, has to be concluded before October 31 to make sure the national team can prepare for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and the 2020 AFF Cup at the end of this year.

The VPF and VFF need to schedule 24 rounds of V. League 1 matches (two rounds already played), 22 rounds of V. League 2 and five knock-out rounds in the National Cup.

But the matches must be played with reasonable recovery time in between for players.

On average, clubs will have to play a game every five days, not a difficult task.

Also to be rescheduled are the U-19 tournament, the third division and a few others. The second leg of U-19 qualification will be played from May 20 to 31, with the finals to take place from June 7 to 16.

The third division will start in the third week of June and end in mid-September.

The national U19 team, coached by Philippe Troussier, will play in an international U19 tournament organized by the VFF and a media house from September 28 to October 4 and the AFC U19 Championship in Uzbekistan on October 14-31.

The U21 domestic league will begin after the V. League 1 concludes. The qualifiers will be played in the first week of November and the finals in December.

Of course everything rests on whether football can resume on May 20 depending on the pandemic situation.