Foreign players help raise the level of V-League?

Before the new season, 7 clubs in the V-League simultaneously proposed increasing the number of "foreign players" used in a match to 4 people on the field, instead of 3 as at present.

Shopping Race

The service of famous players also reflects the value and class of rich football teams. On the contrary, teams with less operating budget will face many challenges in the tournament, even facing difficulties if they do not have a reasonable player purchasing policy.

Since the V-League was professionalized and allowed the use of foreign players, many teams have risen to the top and achieved success in the most prestigious tournament in Vietnam. Nam Dinh Club's two consecutive V-League championships are proof of the fact that they spend a lot of money to recruit and use a team of "foreign players" with high qualifications and professional quality.

Cầu thủ nước ngoài giúp nâng tầm V-League?- Ảnh 1. — The use of "foreign players" has become a hot topic ahead of the 2025-2026 V-League. Photo: VPF

On July 9, Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) received a proposal to "use 4 foreign players in a match, instead of 3 as at present" from Nam Dinh, Hanoi, Hanoi Police (CAHN), The Cong- Viettel , Hai Phong, Hong Linh Ha Tinh and Da Nang clubs. VPF said it will make a final decision in mid-July 2025 - the time of the V-League 2025-2026 season draw.

Nam Dinh FC's leaders said the team has invested in 4 "foreign players" to serve the AFC and ASEAN arenas, but can only use a maximum of 3 players in each match, causing "wasted resources". If the regulations are adjusted, teams will have more tactical options and flexibility in changing personnel.

Sharing the same opinion, coach Pham Minh Duc commented: "If we do not allow the use of all 4 "foreign players", the teams will suffer a great loss in terms of personnel, especially when they have prepared their forces for the international arena."

Previously, in March 2025, at the 8th conference (term 2022-2026), the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) agreed to allow each club to register 4 "foreign players" but limited to 3 people playing at the same time in the V-League. In the case of teams participating in the Asian/Southeast Asian arena, they will be allowed to register up to 7 "foreign players" but can only use a maximum of 3 people on the field.

The transfer market ahead of the 2025-2026 V-League is witnessing the dominance of teams with rich operating budgets such as: Nam Dinh, CAHN, Viettel and Ninh Binh . These teams are constantly updating high-quality foreign and overseas Vietnamese players.

Nam Dinh and CAHN clubs are optimizing their "foreign players" to compete in the international arena. Meanwhile, "newcomer" Ninh Binh is actively building its forces, consolidating its squad with Spanish and Brazilian players... to compete for the highest position in the V-League.

Challenges for domestic players

VFF Vice President Tran Anh Tu commented that the presence of highly skilled foreign players will raise the professional quality of V-League, opening up opportunities for domestic players to learn, compete and gain experience. This competition also creates more motivation for Vietnamese players to improve and make more efforts in training and competition.

By allowing the use of 4 foreign players, the professional capacity of V-League can approach regional leagues such as Thai-League or Malaysia Super League - where "foreign players" are deployed more often. Thai-League, Malaysia Super League allows the registration of 7-12 foreign players, using up to 5 people on the field per match.

V-League will be more attractive if many good players from around the world gather and compete. However, this also narrows the opportunity for domestic players to compete, especially in the context of V-League teams competing for achievements. Besides, the hierarchy and difference in level between teams also appear more clearly, when the "rich" group competes for the championship and the poor team struggles to avoid relegation.

Using too many foreign players also causes the team to lose its competitive identity, hindering the development of young local talent. Many young players who have played for the U22 Vietnam team lack experience playing in the V-League because they are "inferior", having difficulty competing for a place with "foreign players".

Football expert Doan Minh Xuong commented: "Allowing the use of "foreign players" helps strong teams improve their international competitiveness, but we must not forget the number one important task of developing domestic players. Despite increasing foreign players, V-League still needs a policy to ensure opportunities for domestic players to play. Developed football teams in Asia all have regulations on the ratio of players in the squad to protect domestic forces."

Many experts believe that the most important thing is to balance between improving the tournament's expertise and protecting domestic players - especially the young generation who can become the pillars of the national team. Without appropriate regulations on the number of domestic players on the field, there is a big risk that Vietnamese players will have to play as reserve players continuously.

"Clubs should commit to the quality of domestic player training - ensuring the number of talents developed and promoted to professional level. If we do not consider the long term, the risk of eliminating local talent is real" - expert Doan Minh Xuong acknowledged.