Vietnamese volleyball says no to int'l tournaments amid Covid-19

The Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship will take place in the Philippines from Aug. 29 to Sept. 5, while the men’s event will be hosted from Sept. 12 to 19 in Japan. However, both the men and the women’s national teams of Vietnam will be absent as the ongoing Covid wave in the country and the region remains complex.

With SEA Games 31 rescheduled to next year, the women's team would most likely not gather for training in 2021. Meanwhile, the men's team remain at the National Sports Training Center, with no instructor after Chinese head coach Li Huan Ning left.

In mid-July, Vietnam Volleyball Federation decided the teams won't be competing in any international competition in 2021 to guarantee athlete and community safety.

The last time the men's national team played in Asian Volleyball Championship was 2017. In 2019, Vietnam had also qualified, but declined to play.

It has been two years since Vietnamese volleyball was last involved in an international tournament.