The concept of Tet bonus doesn’t exist for many athletes.

Weightlifter Hoang Tuan Anh, who won a silver medal at Olympic 2008.

Do Thi Ngan Thuong, the “doll” of Vietnamese gymnastics, said: “We didn’t win any medal last year so we don’t have a bonus. My sister works for a foreign-invested company and she got a 13^th salary month as Tet bonus. Athletes like me don’t have such Tet bonuses,” she said.

Ngan Thuong is a member of the national gymnastics team and a gymnast under the management of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Even the most outstanding athletes of Vietnam in 2008, weightlifter Hoang Anh Tuan, and the Asian champion in the women’s 800m race, Truong Thanh Hang, won’t get Tet bonuses.

It is the same for members of the national chess team, who are practicing at the National Sports Centre in HCM City to prepare for the Asian Indoor Games 2009.

An official of the chess division said they will organise a New Year’s Eve party for chess players, where they will present a small Tet gift to each of them before they return home for the Tet holiday.

“We only give bonuses to athletes who win medals, not bonuses for holidays. I’m an expert but I only get a VND200,000 Tet bonus,” he said.

While some football clubs like Binh Duong, Hoang Anh Gia Lai or T&T Hanoi present Tet bonuses up to VND10 million to each member, other clubs give nothing.

(Source: TP)