For Nam Dinh FC, foreign players playing more in the V-League not only makes the tournament more attractive but also does not waste having to hire many foreign players to compete in the continental playground - Photo: NAM DINH FC
Changing the tournament rules is not too difficult if it brings benefits to the development of Vietnamese football. But the problem is whether the remaining clubs in the V-League will support it, and whether the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) will be bold enough to make changes.
I say that because adding 1 more foreign player on the field means taking away the opportunity to play of 1 domestic player.
The Changing Face of Southeast Asia
Compared to last season, VPF allows teams to register 1 more foreign player (3 becomes 4) but can still only use 3 foreign players on the field at the same time.
Meanwhile, the strong football countries in the region have had strong changes in the number of registrations and playing positions of foreign players in the new season 2025 - 2026. However, this also leads to many conflicting opinions.
The Indonesian Super League has 18 clubs. Each club is allowed to register up to 11 foreign players and field 8 players. Last season, clubs were only allowed to register 8 foreign players and 6 players could field.
"Increasing the number of foreign players in clubs to 11 will be detrimental to domestic talents. They will no longer have many opportunities to play in the first team and will no longer have the opportunity to play for the national team" - Chairman of the Indonesian Professional Footballers Association (APPI) Andritany Ardhiyasa expressed in the country's press.
Similarly, Thailand also increased the number of foreign players registered and gave more opportunities to players from Southeast Asia in the new Thai League season to increase competition and attract more fans.
Accordingly, each club can register up to 7 foreign players and there is no limit on the number of players from Southeast Asia. On the field, the club can use 5 foreign players and 2 AFF players at the same time. Previously, Thailand allowed to register up to 6 foreign players (1 from Asia) and no more than 3 players from Southeast Asia.
On July 9, the Malaysian Football League (MFL) adjusted the number of foreign players registered in each match. Accordingly, the regulation that clubs can register up to 15 foreign players remains unchanged.
However, the number of players on the field will be 6 (official) + 3 (reserve) instead of 7+2. MFL believes that this adjustment will still help increase the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tournament, but also help develop domestic talent.
Advantages and disadvantages of many foreign soldiers
A large number of high-class foreign players will make the matches in the national championship more attractive and exciting. Thai League with an abundance of foreign players and good facilities has risen to become the number 1 tournament in the region according to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) rankings. Similarly, Malaysia is in the number 2 position.
Domestic players who practice and compete with foreign players from the same club or against other clubs will learn and improve their skills a lot. In addition, the tournament's increase in the number of foreign players registered will also motivate domestic players to try harder to practice and develop themselves in order to compete for the opportunity to play.
For ambitious teams, using many foreign players not only helps them conquer domestic titles but also confidently look to the continental arena.
Vietnamese football can hardly allow the registration of many foreign players like Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia are doing. Because in the past 12 years, V-League has only allowed the registration of 3 foreign players. Although this number is much lower than Southeast Asia, it has led to the situation that many famous domestic strikers have not been able to compete for positions.
This leads to them having to sit out or play on the left wing, which is their specialty. And young players have no chance to play. That is why coach Park Hang Seo has repeatedly complained about not being able to find good strikers for the Vietnam national team or U23 Vietnam. Next, coach Philippe Troussier complained about the fact that young players have little chance to play to mature.
However, allowing 4 foreign players to be registered and 4 foreign players to play at the same time in V-League 2025 - 2026 is not too terrible. That is because Vietnamese football once allowed 7 foreign players to be registered and 5 players to play at the same time in the early stages of professional development. Therefore, the proposal of 4 foreign players playing at the same time, if approved by VPF, will only motivate domestic players to work harder.
But whether or not to increase the playing time of foreign players is just a small matter. What needs to be discussed more with VFF or VPF is how to increase the playing opportunities for young players in V-League, forcing clubs to focus on better youth training and building more playgrounds for young players to gain more experience.
That is the most important thing to help change Vietnamese football.
No need to race foreign players
Regulations on the number of foreign players registered as well as playing slots are to increase the attractiveness of the tournament, but teams participating in the Thai and Malaysian National Championships have the right to choose whether to use all their foreign player slots or not.
Thai League 2025 - 2026 has 16 participating teams, 10 teams have the maximum of 7 foreign players according to regulations (not including AFF players). Three teams have 6 foreign players (including rookie Chonburi). Two teams have only 3 foreign players. One team has no foreign players, rookie Ayutthaya United (only registered 1 Filipino player). However, another newly promoted rookie, Kanchanaburi Power, is the team with the most foreign players with 7 foreign players and 4 Southeast Asian players.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/v-league-co-bao-nhieu-ngoai-binh-la-du-20250712100143403.htm
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