A report with no figures: What is Vietnamese football hiding?

Vietnamese football is growing fast, and so are private academies run by former players. Parents pay high fees, but very few people ask who audits these institutions. Based on a recent analysis of youth training documents, the most striking finding is the absence of figures: no clear coaching licence, no transparent fee breakdown, and no accountability mechanism when a child is injured or forced to quit. Contracts often contain vague clauses saying that disputes will be settled by negotiation, leaving families with no legal protection. The problem is not the lack of talent. The problem is that nobody dares to open the books. If Vietnamese football wants to build real academies, it must start with coaching standards, standardised contracts, and a simple system for parents to verify where their money goes.