The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has decided to ban fans of Hai Phong, the football club that signed Brazilian 2002 World Cup winner Denilson in the beginning of June, from attending any away match.
The ban is effective for an indefinite period, VFF said.
The reason for the decision, which the football governing body announced on June 12, was the northern club’s fans have repeatedly caused “public disorder” during the club’s away matches.
VFF reports said so far this football season, Hai Phong fans have caused “serious” disorder during six matches, including the latest, where Hai Phong played The Cong in Hanoi on June 10.
VFF president Nguyen Trong Hy said, “Before making this decision, we read our reports again, seeing that since the beginning of this 2009 season, Hai Phong fans have caused disorder six times at both home and guest stadiums. They are generating vey bad impressions on football fans nationwide.”
“VFF and its Discipline Panel will only re-consider the ban if Hai Phong fans raise their awareness of discipline in the coming time.”
“The ban is very harsh, and I expect to see positive changes from Hai Phong fans,” he added.
Hai Phong Club managing director Do Dai Duong said, “Our team will lose spiritually strong support from the spectators. Some spectators have broken the rules of the league organizers, but those are merely some extremists while the others, who are majority, are not like that.”
The club’s executive added, “I expect that those extremist fans would change their thinking and show right behavior so that VFF may lift up the ban soon.”
Hai Phong fans’ latest outburst took place in Hanoi on June 10 during and after their team’s defeat by The Cong. Police used electric batons and tear gas to disperse the visiting Hai Phong supporters. Hanoi and Hai Phong police are working together to identify who were real wrongdoers.
Denilson, a member of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winning team, did not play that game and an earlier game on June 6 after joining Hai Phong a few days before. The world’s most expensive footballer in 1998, when he moved from Brazil’s Sao Paulo to Spanish side Real Betis for a word record of US$32 million, said he is injured, even before starting for his new team Hai Phong.
Denilson made his first official appearance at Hai Phong’s Lach Tray Stadium on June 2 via a training session where he attended 10 minutes. After the June 6 game, under pressure from the general public, the club held a press conference to announce that he got injured before arriving in Hai Phong City late May 31.
Many Hai Phong fans said they were cheated as they had to buy tickets for the June 6 match at Lach Tray at a much higher price to see Denilson play, but he did not at all. Some fans burned stadium seats and threw objects on to the pitch, in displeasure at Denilson’s absence from the match, in which V-League leading Danang beat the team 2-0.
