Coach Hoàng Văn Phúc: 'We need to awaken the football industry'

Coach Hoàng Văn Phúc believes that the recent positive results in regional and continental tournaments are optimistic, encouraging signals for the next stage of Vietnam football's development across multiple aspects.

Coach Hoàng Văn Phúc acknowledges that the challenge of how Vietnamese football can rise strongly through stable class-level performance is very difficult: "This requires maintaining a steady rhythm at the foundational level, including youth training work; the professional league system; the macro development strategy of Vietnamese football. The foundation of national teams always lies in the system of professional competitions. Therefore, we must gradually carry out strong reforms of the V-League, thereby elevating the entire domestic football scene.

The milestone of first entering the third round of the 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers, as well as the failure in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, both brought different lessons and values. That is the basis for us to continue pursuing the World Cup dream. Precisely these setbacks and accumulated experiences in this prestigious arena create the premise for Vietnamese football's rise."

* Thus, the ultimate destination in a not-so-distant future is Vietnamese football participating in the World Cup. However, conquering this dream is not easy if we lack preparation and actual capability?

Vietnamese football always harbors the desire to reach the World Cup someday. That aspiration is legitimate and also generates motivation for domestic football to pursue and strive towards. We have the goal but not yet sufficient conditions to achieve it. It's not simply about hiring a foreign coach and handing them a major objective without having the basic conditions to fulfill it. The World Cup aspiration isn't solely the responsibility of the head coach position or one generation of players; it requires the joint effort of the entire domestic football industry.

We must still admit the fact that the foundation of Vietnamese football is still very low compared to the dream and major goal set. Success during the five years under Mr. Park Hang Seo or recent achievements with Coach Kim Sang Sik have caused many to forget the reality that Vietnamese football's foundation is still not strong enough to accomplish such feats.

We cannot easily conquer this dream without preparation and actual capability. There is still the saying "you need flour to make paste"; the material in our hands is insufficient, not good enough to achieve that. This is a very long journey with many hardships.

* Besides professional matters, football can become an industry generating profit. There are many expectations that Vietnamese football will increasingly exploit the full advantages of this sport?

In Vietnam, football is the king of sports, receiving passionate support, especially the attention given to the national team, meaning the opportunity to earn money from this sport is the greatest. The sports industry in general, and football specifically in Vietnam, is in a development process; entertainment demand is increasing; activities related to football always receive more attention from fans.

Recently, issues closely related to the brand of Vietnam's men's national football team have been thoroughly dissected to highlight one of the main features of Vietnam's Sports Development Strategy until 2030, vision to 2045. This is seen as a step forward in awareness to "awaken" the domestic football industry.

Therefore, we must find ways to fully exploit all commercial forms such as advertising merchandise, brand partnerships, and other media rights beyond television broadcasting rights. Next is organizing events, promotional activities to connect fans; participating in social activities to maintain and enhance brand image; building a system of tools, media channels to interact with fans. If we further improve the "economic" aspect from the national teams' brands, it will surely bring substantial revenue to restructure football in a positive direction.

* In sports economics, players not only compete but are also commercial products with high transfer value, image, and licensing rights. What are your views on this aspect?

As football develops, the value of players increases, thereby profits will be brought in through large player purchase and transfer contracts. Looking at revenue sources, it can be seen that besides good professional skills, players building reputation will go hand in hand with money. The issue lies in how players and clubs commercially exploit the player's reputation once the brand is established.

The trend of Vietnamese players turning to business while still playing or after retirement shows thorough preparation for their future. This not only helps players continue maintaining fame but also ensures stable life after leaving the pitch. However, even though famous players have many advantages, entering business also faces numerous challenges. Fame can help them attract initial attention, but to sustain long-term success, they need extensive business knowledge and management ability. This issue is very important in stimulating the development of professional football.

* Alongside that, we not only need to build the national team brand but also elevate the brand of domestic professional football leagues?

Currently, Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) is assigned by VFF the authority to manage, operate, and organize national professional football competitions including: National Cup, National Super Cup, national championship league, national First Division league. VPF operates on the basis of a business providing services in the sports field. Therefore, VPF considers national professional football competitions as its main product and exploiting services related to the leagues as a way to create commercial value.

From a commercial perspective, leagues and matches are considered service products and fans are the customers. A league is evaluated as successful when it attracts many spectators, fans, through directly attending stadiums to watch and support teams playing or watching via television. Matches, teams, players are the main products that build the league's brand, increasing attractiveness, drawing audience interest.

Vietnamese football needs investment to build strong clubs. From such clubs, a foundation for a strong national team will be created. The value of image will have power, spreading influence, and great attraction for audiences as well as investors. Communication work, image building, brand creation must pay attention to the smallest details to create consistency and high discipline.

* Thank you sincerely for the conversation!