Authorities in Phu Tho Province have stressed that they had tried their best to improve the quality of facilities at local stadiums to serve football teams at the coming SEA Games 31.
Indonesian footballers Bai Bang Stadium in Phu Tho Province. Photo by PSSI
Speaking to Dantri/Dtinews on May 5, director of the Department of Phu Tho Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nguyen Dac Thuy said that they have renovated some facilities at the Bai Bang Stadium following recommendations from the Vietnam Football Federation.
"Regarding the training ground, Bai Bang Stadium pitch quality was not as good as the imported grass from the US at Viet Tri Stadium," he explained.
"We had tried to upgrade some facilities the stadium and create the most favourable conditions for all teams when they arrived to play in Phu Tho. We did not mean to cause any inconvenience for any teams when arranging the training grounds for them."
Earlier several football teams made complaints about the quality of training ground at Bai Bang Stadium after their first training sessions for the SEA Games 31.
In an interview with some accompanying Indonesian reporters after their first training session on Wednesday, Indonesian coach Shin Tae Yong said that his players were in great shape and were ready for the game with Vietnam. However, the pitch on the training ground was not good at all and not suitable for modern football."
Midfielder Saddil Ramdani said: "The pitch wasn’t good. There was a lot of sand and many potholes."
Some other teams including Myanmar have also said that the quality of the training ground in Phu Tho was bad with dry grass and rough ground. The Myanmar team said that they had asked the organiser to change them to another training ground but their request had been refused.
Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Timor Leste, and Vietnam are in group A at the SEA Games 31.
