Vietnamese expert: 'AFF Cup will lose value without Thailand’s participation'

The Thai team seems to have lost interest in the AFF Cup. Recently, the president of the Thai Football Federation has spoken out that he will consider not attending this playground this year. They are worried that the tournament will be time-consuming to coincide with the 2022 World Cup qualifier. Reaching the final qualifying round of the continental playground is the No. 1 goal of the Thais.

Former coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh shared: “Thailand is the strongest team and have crowned the championship the most. They are  always receiving special attention and the attraction for the tournament and for television. Therefore, the withdrawal will make the attraction of the prize decrease sharply.

Professionally, the AFF Cup was not very high compared to the international playing fields, Thailand used to be a catalyst to raise the level of the tournament, because the Thai team has a higher professional quality than many other teams. Now, if Thailand does not attend, the AFF Cup's professionalism will also declin."

As expected, the matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia in March and June will be held in October and November. This is also the time when the AFF Cup 2020 may start. . Therefore, having to play both sides at the same time will bring great difficulties for the teams in Southeast Asia.

Earlier, Thailand had considered the plan to send the U23 team to the AFF Cup 2020. This is unprecedented in history because the AFF Cup is the highest-level tournament in Southeast Asia for national teams of countries in the region.

>>> Vietnam will not give up the AFF Cup 2020