Thai coach Chatchai Paholpa on June 24 submitted his resignation to Hoang Anh Gia Lai football club managers after 12 matches in V-League 2009.

Thai coach Chatchai Paholpa.

The Thai coach resigned to return home to take care of a child suffering from cancer at home. Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s chairman Doan Nguyen Duc accepted his resignation.

Chatchai’s Thai assistant Dusit will take over for the last nine matches of V-League.

Doan Nguyen Duc invited Chatchai to replace Dusit after two initial losing matches in V-League. Chatchai came to Vietnam to witness the match between Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Dong Tam at the National Cup tournament and returned home.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai suffered three consecutive losing matches with Chatchai and then four consecutive winning matches.

In the second round of V-League, Hoang Anh Gia Lai has had one draw and two consecutive losing matches. The team currently ranks in 13^th position so its ambition to win the championship has failed.

In V-League 2007, Chatchai, a former coach of the Thai national squad, helped Hoang Anh Gia Lai win third place. After leaving the team, Chatchai nominated Anant Amorkiat as an alternative. He returned to Vietnam in late 2008 to help Hoang Anh Gia Lai.

In early V-League 2009, besides local stars Thanh Binh and Viet Cuong and two Thai stars Nirut and Sakda, Hoang Anh Gia Lai hired Vietnamese-American star Lee Nguyen. With a lot of stars, the club’s chairman Doan Nguyen Duc stated the team had a 98 percent chance of winning the V-League championship.

VietNamNet/VNE