Unilaterally breaking his contract with Nam Dinh club, Hoang Danh Ngoc, a member of the national football team for the less than 23 years old (U23), was suspended for 18 months and has to pay VND2.4 billion ($120,000) to Nam Dinh.

Ngoc, 20, is praised as a new star of Nam Dinh. He has played for Nam Dinh’s first-class team for three years. Nam Dinh failed at V-League 2010 and will have to play at the First Division Tournament 2011.

After the club’s failure, some players have left the club, such as fullback Van Duyet and striker Manh Dung. Ngoc also wanted to leave but his contract with Nam Dinh had not ended yet. However, he was determined to leave. He has not joined the team’s activities since December 2010 and stated to unilaterally break the contract.

Nam Dinh club has asked the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to intervene. Based on the rules of Vietnam’s professional football, Ngoc has been suspended from playing for 18 months and has to pay VND2.4 billion of compensation to Nam Dinh. The money is to compensate Nam Dinh’s training fees for Ngoc since he was 10 years old.

The VFF’s penalty is the record one for a Vietnamese player so far. This way VFF wants to warn off other players and prevent other such cases in future.

At V-League 2009, Ngoc was seriously penalized for his rude behavior against The Cong club’s fans.

Ngoc said he would ask for lawyers’ assistance. He hoped that his contribution to the U23 team would be considered by the VFF in reducing the penalty.

Ngoc also said that during the suspension period, he would practice with his new team – Ninh Binh. This team will pay VND2.4 billion of compensation to Ngoc. Ninh Binh also has to pay Ngoc over VND2 billion to recruit him.

PV