As per the schedule, Vietnamese athletes were to compete in more than 110 local and international events in the first six months of 2020, while 19 national teams were due to take part in training courses. However, all were cancelled or delayed.
The VSA is waiting for the government’s permission to restart sport activities, said Tran Duc Phan, Deputy General Director of VSA.
“We have prepared for tournaments, and if approved, we will organise the most important ones including the national championships and national junior championships. The others might have to be cancelled. It is impossible to hold all this year’s tournaments in the last six months,” he said.
Football might be the first to restart as the Vietnam Professional Football Company (VPF) and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) expect National Cup matches to possibly begin on May 15.
“The VPF plans the return of football on May 15, but it is just on paper as the Government has not approved it yet. If it does, whether matches will be open to supporters or not is also an issue which needs the permission of the authorities,” said VFF Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan.
If tournaments are allowed from June, the VFF has enough time to organise all events for both seniors and juniors, he said.
After football, the national marathon event, the Tien Phong Newspaper Marathon, will be the second event to be organised.
The meet, which has been delayed twice, is planned to take place on July 4 on Ly Son Island in central Quang Ngai province.
Meanwhile Phan Tuan, head of the Table Tennis Department under the VSA, said his athletes can’t wait to compete at the national tournaments which will act as a warm-up event for international ones where they will seek the berths available for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
