VFF clarifies the reason why Dinh Bac is not joining the Vietnam national team

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has officially confirmed that striker Nguyen Dinh Bac will not be able to participate in the national team's March 2026 training camp.

According to the announcement from VFF, this training camp list still offers opportunities to many promising young players such as goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien, defender Nguyen Nhat Minh, or midfielder Khuat Van Khang. However, two other potential figures, defender Pham Ly Duc and striker Nguyen Dinh Bac, cannot join the squad due to being suspended for matches related to the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup.

Specifically, according to the decision from AFC, Nguyen Dinh Bac is suspended for 2 matches following a direct red card in the third-place match between Vietnam U23 and South Korea U23. The penalty includes one automatic match suspension and one additional match suspension, accompanied by a fine of 1,000 USD. Notably, according to AFC's regulations on disciplinary carry-over, if a player no longer meets the conditions to participate in the current tournament level, the suspension will be applied to the national team level.

In the case of Dinh Bac, since he is no longer eligible to participate in future U23 tournaments, the match suspension will be transferred to official matches of the Vietnam national team. This means the striker born in 2004 will be absent from the match against Malaysia in the final qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup, scheduled for March 31.

According to the plan, the Vietnam national team will assemble in Hanoi from March 21 to prepare for the FIFA Days period. Some players busy competing in the National Cup quarter-finals and a postponed V.League match will join the camp later. During this period, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team will have a friendly match against Bangladesh on March 26 at Hang Day Stadium, before moving to Ninh Binh to host Malaysia at Thiên Truong Stadium on March 31.

Not only for Dinh Bac individually, VFF also received a fine of 1,500 USD from AFC related to the conduct of the Vietnam U22 team collective at the 33rd SEA Games. The consecutive penalties from AFC are raising demands for higher discipline and professionalism for Vietnamese football in international tournaments.

This is a purely financial penalty, not accompanied by a playing ban or point deduction, but it is a clear reminder that AFC is tightening discipline, even at regional-level tournaments. This is a lesson that the Vietnam Football Federation as well as Dinh Bac personally must deeply learn from and avoid repeating.