The Vietnam Football Federation Cup or VFF Cup was an annual football tournament organised in Vietnam. The organisation of the tournament was announced on August 19, 2004, replacing the Independence Cup.[1] and was played from 2004 to 2011 with the Vietnamese Football Federation announcing in 2012 that the competition would no longer be played.[2] Every year the tournament is held at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi. In 2008 the tournament was renamed due to the withdrawal of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development as the main sponsor.[3] Participants are either club teams or national teams, but the Vietnam national team is always a participant.
Controversy
Ever since the inauguration of the Agribank football tournament in 2004 there has always been controversies surrounding the organisation of the tournament.[4] The most recurring issue is the lack of quality teams partaking in the tournament; for the first edition of the tournament Thailand sent a 'selection team' consisted of local league players unknown to Vietnamese fans, instead of the national team as requested by the Vietnam Football Federation.[4]
Japan and Bahrain both entered their youth teams in the 2005 and 2006 tournaments respectively, and on each occasion the invited teams lacked the quality that was demanded by the organisers.[4] Due to the expressed disappointments of their Vietnamese organisers in 2006, the Bahrain Football Association sent a letter stating their reasons for not sending a full-strength team to the tournament.[5] For the 2007 edition of the Agribank Cup Thailand once again declined an invitation to take part, and Zimbabwe was invited to fill the gap left by Thailand.
Due to the combination of factors, such as the lack of quality teams and the deficiencies of the VFF as the tournament organiser, the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development announced that it would stop sponsoring the tournament in 2008.[4]
Champions/Runners Up
Summary
2012 Results
The 2012 edition was initially set to be played between hosts 
Vietnam, 
Turkmenistan, 
North Korea and 
Iran U-22. Iran and North Korea were replaced by 
Laos and 
South Korea University Selection on 10 October. The South Korean team is a selection from the University League,[6] but it doesn't include players from the top 32 universities due to a collision with the 2012 University League Championship schedules.[7] Laos themselves replaced the 
Maldives who initially looked like taking part as replacements for Iran.
| Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
| 1. South Korea University Selection |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 7 |
| 3. Turkmenistan |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 6 |
| 2. Vietnam |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 4 |
| 4. Laos |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 0 |
2011 Results
The 2011 edition of the tournament was known as the VFF-Eximbank Cup. Host nation Vietnam was represented by the Vietnam U-23 team, as they were preparing for the upcoming 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.[8] Under-23 teams from 
Malaysia, 
Myanmar and 
Uzbekistan were invited to take part in the tournament. On October 23, 2011, the tournament concluded with Uzbekistan winning the tournament for the second time, whereas host nation Vietnam finished as runners-up. The champions were rewarded with $25,000 in prize money, the second-placed team received $10,000 and the third-placed team was rewarded $5,000.[8]
2010 Results
The 2010 VFF Cup will be mainly sponsored by Son Ha Company to develop football in Vietnam. As of that, this year's competition was named the VFF SonHa Cup. VFF had invited the national teams of Korea DPR, 
Singapore, and a South Korean University Selection Team. These team will be competing against the host nation team Vietnam. For this edition of the tournament, Korea DPR squad won the VFF Cup for the first time following their 2-0 victory over Vietnam. Singapore finished second and the South Korean University Selection Team was third.
| Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
| 1. Korea DPR |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 |
| 2. Singapore |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 |
| 3. South Korea University Selection Team |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4. Vietnam |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 1 |
2009 Results
For the sixth edition of this tournament, the Vietnam Football Federation agreed to a sponsorship deal with Smart Door. Hence the 2009 competition was known as the VFF Smart Door Cup. The tournament lasted from November 5 to November 9, 2009. Under 23 Olympic teams from 
China, Singapore and 
Thailand were the main competitors in the tournament, against host nation Vietnam.[9] For this edition of the tournament, Vietnam's U23 squad won the VFF Cup for the second time following their 3-1 victory over China.[10]
2008 Results
In 2008 the tournament was renamed as the T&T Cup due to changes in sponsorship. The tournament lasted from October 28 to November 1, 2008. Initially Vietnam invited national teams from North Korea, Thailand and Uzbekistan to participate in this football tournament. On October 26 the Uzbekistan Football Federation informed tournament organisers that they won't be attending the tournament, after sending a list of twenty-five players, so only three national teams competed for this year's T&T Cup.[11] On November 1, the match between host nation Vietnam and Thailand was postponed due to heavy rain.[12] The match resumed on November 16, 2008, with Thailand winning the tournament following a 2-2 draw with Vietnam.
2007 Results
From November 1 to November 5, 2007, under 23 teams from 
Finland, Uzbekistan and 
Zimbabwe were invited to compete against host nation Vietnam in the tournament. The tournament winner was awarded US$40,000 in prize money, US$20,000 for the runners-up and US$10,000 for the third-place team.
Thailand withdrew from the tournament to focus on the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. To fill the void the Vietnam Football Federation invited Zimbabwe to replace Thailand.
2006 Results
The third edition of the Agribank Cup lasted from October 25 to October 29, 2006. The Vietnam Football Federation initially invited teams from 
Bahrain, 
Iceland and Thailand to participate in the tournament, but due to Iceland's withdrawal a team from 
New Zealand was invited to fill the void instead.[13]
For this tournament host nation Vietnam and Thailand both entered a near full-strength team, New Zealand sent the B-team called New Zealand "A", while Bahrain used their under-21 squad.
2005 Results
For the second tournament host nation Vietnam entered its Under 23 team to compete against Olympic teams from 
Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.[14] The tournament lasted from October 26 to October 30, 2005. Following three consecutive victories Vietnam's Under 23 team clinched the Agribank Cup with $40,000 in prize money, while Thailand and Japan took home $20,000 each after finishing second and third place respectively.
2004 Results
For the first edition of the Agribank Cup Vietnam hosted the 
Porto Reserve team from Portugal, 
Santa Cruz F.C. from Brazil and the Thailand XI selection team, consisting of players from the Thailand Premier League. For this tournament the Football Association of Thailand refused to send one of its national teams to take part, instead they sent a 'Selection Team' after the Vietnam Football Federation insisted on Thailand's participation.[5]
The tournament lasted four days from September 22 to September 26, 2004. The guest team from Portugal won the Agribank Cup after three consecutive victories and was awarded $30,000, host nation Vietnam was awarded $20,000 finishing as runners up, and Santa Cruz pocketed $5,000 finishing third.[1]
Notes
External links
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