While losing Vietnam women’s get World Cup bonus Falcons are snubbed

Players and officials in the Super Falcons, current and old, would most likely love to trade officials with their Vietnamese counterparts.

While a winning team like the Falcons are snubbed and scorned by NFF officials, owned bonuses and allowances that date back decades, the Vietnamese that lost all their matches at the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup are not only celebrated they also got cash rewards.

Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) awarded VND1.8 billion ($75,800) to the women's national team after they competed in three group-stage matches of the 2023 Women's World Cup.

VFF awarded the team VND800 million after the 0-3 loss to the U.S. and VND500 million for each defeat against Portugal (0-2) and the Netherlands (0-7). The bonus will be distributed based on the level of contribution of each member at the tournament.

According to VFF, the award is to recognize the efforts of the team in Vietnam’s first appearance at the Women’s World Cup, despite losing all three matches, failing to score, and getting eliminated in the group stage.

"You don’t need to win to get rewarded," said VFF chairman Tran Quoc Tuan. "We have many big goals in the future and hope that we can qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup."

In addition to the bonus from VFF, according to the regulations of the world football governor FIFA, each Vietnam player will receive $30,000 for playing in the group stage. This money is expected to be disbursed after the tournament ends. FIFA will not transfer the money directly to each player but will send it to the federation, due to the different tax payments and policies of each country.

According to the law in Vietnam, individuals and collectives who are rewarded for winning medals or breaking records at SEA Games, Asian Games,

and the Olympics do not have to pay taxes. However, FIFA's money is not included in these categories, so it is not tax-free. VFF will pay tax according to the guidance of the General Department of Taxation, which will be a deduction of 10% from each player’s bonus.

In addition, FIFA will also give a bonus of $1.56 million based on the performance of the Vietnam women's team in the group stage to VFF. After paying 10% tax, the money will be used to pay for expenses related to the preparation and participation of the team in the 2023 Women's World Cup, and for women's football development activities. FIFA will closely monitor how the federations use the money to make sure it serves the right purposes.

Vietnam ended their journey at their first FIFA Women's World Cup after the tournament's heaviest defeat against the Netherlands on Tuesday.