Former Vietnam national team coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh quips Indonesia who have communicated regarding the possibility of joining the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF).
Thanh Vinh considered it unreasonable for Indonesia to want to withdraw because of the incident that occurred between Vietnam vs Thailand in the group phase of the 2022 AFF U-19 Cup. Vietnam and Thailand drew 1-1 so that the U-19 Indonesian national team failed to qualify for the semifinals.
Vietnam and Thailand are considered to have violated the principle of fair play in the match. This is because in the last 10 minutes of the match both teams chose to play safe in order to secure a ticket to qualify.
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“If Indonesia sticks to this kind of thing to leave the AFF and join EAFF, it’s very unreasonable,” Thanh Vinh was quoted as saying. Soha.vn.
“Over the past few years, tournaments in Southeast Asia have been quite well organized, rarely causing controversy. But football has many problems. If Indonesia joins EAFF and there is more controversy, will they still leave?” he continued.
The discourse of Indonesia leaving AFF and joining EAFF stems from the urging of netizens. They were disappointed because the AFF did not respond to the protest note from PSSI regarding the alleged ‘flirting’ in the Vietnam vs Thailand match.
PSSI General Chair Mochamad Iriawan then explained that his party had communicated with EAFF.
“Yes, we have conveyed it through the secretary general. He is happy if he enters. Even though FIFA does not consider AFF matches official, we also often compete, right,” said Iriawan after the Liga 1 coordination meeting, Tuesday (19/7) afternoon.
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