Big shock for Vietnamese volleyball, U.21 team anxiously waiting for FIVB's final decision

The U.21 Vietnamese women's volleyball team was declared defeated by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) at the U.21 Women's Volleyball World Cup in Indonesia, which was a big shock.

VFV will protect the reputation of Vietnamese volleyball

In the middle of the night on August 12, FIVB posted an announcement after receiving feedback about the U.21 Vietnamese women's volleyball team sending an ineligible player to compete in the U.21 World Cup in Indonesia, so it conducted an investigation. FIVB concluded that a Vietnamese hitter was ineligible according to Article 12.2 of the FIVB Disciplinary Regulations 2023. Therefore, according to Article 13.5.2 of the law and Article 14.4 of the Disciplinary Regulations, the FIVB Disciplinary Subcommittee decided to cancel the matches of the U.21 Vietnamese team in which that player participated, and at the same time disqualify this player from competing in the tournament. In addition, the FIVB Disciplinary Subcommittee also said that it would forward the file to the FIVB Disciplinary Council for evaluation and consideration of additional penalties.

Immediately after receiving the notice from FIVB, the leaders of the Vietnam Volleyball Federation (VFV) affirmed that they had complied with FIVB regulations on athlete registration procedures as well as submitted all athlete documents to FIVB before the tournament. These documents were reviewed and approved by FIVB, allowing the athletes to compete. However, the FIVB's decision on ineligible athletes was made based on the request for additional documents and a number of conditions for the athletes on August 12. These are conditions that have never been regulated before.

The Vietnam U.21 women's volleyball team suffered a big shock but the whole team united to overcome difficulties - PHOTO: FIVB

Yesterday, VFV sent an official complaint according to FIVB procedures, and coordinated with competent Vietnamese authorities to clarify and protect the rights of athletes as well as the reputation of Vietnamese volleyball.

FIVB did not announce in detail the reason for the Vietnamese athletes' violations, whether it was due to age fraud, doping, or gender, while VFV leaders said they had sent additional documents as required by FIVB but were still fined. What happened to the U.21 Vietnamese women's volleyball team is a warning for federations, departments, and the Vietnam Sports Administration to clearly understand the regulations and rules and carefully prepare documents for each athlete when competing internationally. At the end of August, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team will participate in the World Volleyball Championship in Thailand. The host country, Thailand, has voiced its request for FIVB to conduct gender testing for athletes. Although FIVB has not made any official announcement about gender testing for athletes at the World Championship, teams, including the Vietnamese team, still need to pay close attention.

U.21 Vietnam surpasses itself

The FIVB penalty caused the U.21 Vietnam women's volleyball team to lose 4/5 matches, dropping from second place in Group A to the bottom of the table. Instead of participating in the round of 16, coach Nguyen Trong Linh and his team were relegated to the 17th-24th place match, while host Indonesia benefited, winning a ticket to the round of 16.

Despite the big shock, the entire U.21 Vietnam team made an effort to overcome the difficulties. In the first match of the 17th - 24th round yesterday, August 13, the U.21 Vietnam team excellently defeated U.21 Egypt with a score of 3-1, winning the right to enter the 17th - 20th round. The opponent of U.21 Vietnam in the next match is U.21 Chile.

In the match with U.21 Egypt, U.21 Vietnam did not have the strongest force but still played quite impressively. Professional statistics of the match showed that U.21 Vietnam had diversity in playing style. In particular, the attack of U.21 Vietnam did not depend too much on individuals but promoted collective strength, with Bui Thi Anh Thao contributing 21 points, Le Thuy Linh 20 points, Pham Quynh Huong 16 points, Nguyen Phuong Quynh 11 points.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cu-soc-lon-voi-bong-chuyen-viet-nam-doi-u21-hoi-hop-cho-fivb-ra-phan-quyet-cuoi-cung-185250813205633291.htm