On the morning of December 14, the 24th meeting of the 18th term of the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa province continued on its third working day. At the meeting, Mr. Do Minh Tuan, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, gave a speech to address the concerns of the Provincial People’s Council delegates and voters.
Regarding the comments made by Delegate Cao Tien Doan, Chairman of the Thanh Hoa Football Club, about the challenges in investment policies for infrastructure and rewards for the team, the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee acknowledged and highly appreciated the efforts of the club’s leadership and their achievements over the past time.
“Initially, people considered Thanh Hoa as a weak team, but we improved with each game. Some economically developed localities have disbanded their teams, but our team remains strong. Our province may be poor, but our football team is getting better,” shared Mr. Tuan.
Mr. Tuan also acknowledged the investments made by the province and the Dong A Thanh Hoa Football Club over the years. While not yet grand, the Thanh Hoa Stadium is among the top stadiums with a beautiful pitch.
Current Stadium of Thanh Hoa FC
According to Mr. Tuan, the pitch and running track are beautiful but outdated, and there is no room for expansion. The province has planned to develop a large sports center in the coming time.
“We have already designed a beautiful stadium in Quang Thanh ward, Thanh Hoa city, similar to Old Trafford (the home stadium of Manchester United Football Club in the United Kingdom). We will attract private investors and promote socialization to make this happen,” Mr. Tuan shared.
Addressing Delegate Cao Tien Doan’s feedback about the dim stadium lights and concrete benches, the Chairman assured that the province has allocated 40 billion VND for improvements, and the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism will promptly address these issues.
Earlier, on December 13, during the discussion session, Delegate Cao Tien Doan, Chairman of Dong A Thanh Hoa Football Club, proposed that the investment in the team was not commensurate with their achievements.
Specifically, Mr. Doan proposed that the stadium’s lighting system was outdated and did not meet standards, providing insufficient lighting for athletes; there was a lack of training grounds; there were no seats, forcing spectators to sit on concrete ledges; and the rewards for the team were inadequate.
Currently, the reward system has not been updated for five years. While a bowl of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) used to cost 5,000 VND, it now costs 50,000 VND. Other provinces reward their champion teams with tens of billions of VND, while our reward is only 1 billion VND,” said Delegate Cao Tien Doan.
Thanh Hoa is located in the North Central Coast region, covering an area of over 11,000 km2, making it the fifth-largest province in Vietnam. With a population of 3.72 million people (as of 2022), Thanh Hoa is the most populous province in the country, following only the two centrally-controlled municipalities of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
