Until the police track down a group of men who tried to kill midfield player Chi Cong, Binh Duong football club has imposed a curfew on the whole team.

Binh Duong FC’s halfback Chi Cong.

On March 15, a group of 15 men and a woman attacked the player at the door of a nightclub in Thu Dau Mot town, Binh Duong province, stabbing him twice on his arm and back.

The player ran away and hid in a nearby house. The house owner bandaged him and called the police.

According to Chi Cong, since he joined Binh Duong club, he has never made trouble with anyone. He said all attackers were strangers and that some spoke in a northern tongue. They only attacked Cong, not his friend who accompanied him to the club.

Cong, 28, was trained at a football talent class in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho. He played for five years at the First Division Tournament. In 2008, former Vietnam coach Henrique Calisto brought Cong into the national squad. The same year, Binh Duong bought the player from Can Tho.

Doctors said that the player would have to take a 10-day rest. Binh Duong head to Hanoi to face Hoa Phat Hanoi this weekend.

Binh Duong FC has now imposed a curfew on its players and has arranged for more guards at the team’s headquarters.

“Chi Cong is very gentle and always obeys the rules. We all love him. We are very surprised that he was attacked. I hope that the attackers mistook him with someone else. Our club has co-operated with police to investigate the case,” said Doan Van Ut, managing director of Binh Duong FC.

PV