Today, February 4, is the deadline for participants in the V-League and the First Division football tournaments to register the lists of their football players; however, several teams still haven’t gotten work permits for their foreign players.

Trindade (left), a player of Hai Phong Cement club, is one foreign player who has a work permit already.

This is the first football season that the organising board of V-League and the First Division Tournament has applied the rule that foreign players can only play in V-League and the First Division Tournament if they have work permits granted by provincial Departments of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the provinces and cities where their clubs are located.

In the first round of the National Football Cup or the Vissai Cement Cup 2009, clubs like T&T Hanoi and Hoa Phat Hanoi couldn’t use any or could use only one or two foreign players because of lack of work permits.

The Managing Director of the T&T Hanoi club, Lam Hong Diep, said: “We received the international transfer licences of foreign players on January 26, 27. We couldn’t submit registration documents to the authorities until February 2 (Tet holiday ran from January 25 to February 1). Under the regulations of Departments of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, each registration case takes 7 days, so it is certain that we can’t meet the Vietnam Football Federation’s deadline for registering players.”

T&T Hanoi currently has four foreign players who are waiting for work permits from the Hanoi Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs. Only Valdinei has a work permit, but it is invalid. Valdinei previously played for Nghe An province-based Song Lam Nghe An Club so his work permit was granted by the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An province. This player now is a member of Hanoi-based T&T Hanoi so that work permit is invalid. Valdinei will have to apply for a new one.

Hanoi-based The Cong club is also miserable because of work permits. Of its five foreign footballers, only Endene has a work permit.

The club’s chief coach Vuong Tien Dung said he didn’t know when this task would be completed. He said he hoped that the VFF would allow The Cong and other clubs to submit work permits later.

Meanwhile, some clubs like Hoang Anh-Gia Lai, Song Lam Nghe An, Nam Dinh, and Hoa Phat Hanoi completed this job a long time ago.

“We started this task very early because we knew it would be time-consuming,” said Technical Director of Hoang Anh Gia Lai club, Nguyen Van Vinh.

VietNamNet/TP