4,000 billion VND for more than 20 years of investment in Olympics and ASIAD

For many months now, when building the Program for developing key sports to prepare for the Olympics and ASIAD in the period of 2026-2046, managers at the Vietnam Sports Administration and many experts have calculated at 17 sports. Of which, 17 sports are divided into 2 groups.

Group 1 includes strong sports with high potential for Olympic medals (8 events): Shooting, archery, weightlifting, taekwondo, boxing, fencing, rowing, badminton. About 100-110 athletes in this group will be trained long-term abroad.

Group 2 is the potential and potential sports that have the potential to compete for medals at the ASIAD (9 sports): Athletics, judo, karate, wushu, gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, sepak takraw, cycling. Athletes in this group, 65 - 70 athletes, will be invested in a combination of domestic training and short-term training and competition abroad under a special regime).

Thus, in the period 2026-2046, to complete the goals at ASIAD and Olympics, every year Vietnamese sports invest in about 165-170 key athletes in 17 sports. Thereby, it is possible to achieve the goals in 3 small stages in the period 2026-2046 as recently shared by Mr. Hoang Quoc Vinh - Head of High Performance Sports Department (Vietnam Sports Department).

In the 2026 - 2030 period, in addition to maintaining its position in the top 3 delegations at the SEA Games, Vietnamese sports aims to be in the top 20 delegations at the ASIAD with specific targets of 5 gold medals at the 2026 ASIAD (focusing on shooting, karate, rowing, and sepak takraw), 6 gold medals at the 2030 ASIAD (shooting, archery, karate, rowing, and sepak takraw).

For the 2028 Olympics during this period, aim to win 2 bronze medals (shooting, archery, weightlifting).

In the period 2030 - 2036, in addition to maintaining its position in the top 3 delegations at the SEA Games, Vietnamese sports will continue to maintain its goal of being in the top 20 delegations at the ASIAD with specific targets such as 7 gold medals at the 2034 ASIAD (shooting, archery, karate, rowing, sepak takraw, boxing). At the 2032 Olympics, strive to win 2 bronze medals (shooting, archery, weightlifting); at the 2036 Olympics, win 1 silver medal, 2 bronze medals (archery, weightlifting, shooting). During this period, Vietnamese sports will also continue to stabilize the group of key sports that have been invested in training in the 2026-2030 period and add new breakthrough content.

For the period 2036 - 2046, in addition to maintaining the top 2 teams at the SEA Games, Vietnamese sports aim to be in the top 15 teams at the ASIAD and the top 50 teams at the Olympics. Setting the goal of being in the top 50 teams at the Olympics also means that Vietnamese sports must win gold medals at each participating event.

According to the calculation of the Vietnam Sports Administration, the estimated budget for the ASIAD and Olympic goals in the period 2026-2046 is about 4,000 billion VND. In which, the period 2026 - 2030: About 175 - 180 billion VND/year/17 sports; The period 2030 - 2036: About 175 - 180 billion VND/year/17 sports and an additional 10% of the period 2026-2030; The period 2036 - 2046: About 175 - 180 billion VND/year/17 sports and an additional 10% of the period 2030 - 2036.

Will the number of key subjects be recalculated?

Not only at the Workshop on giving opinions on building a Program to develop key sports to prepare for the Olympics and ASIAD in the period of 2026-2046, which took place in Hanoi, but before that, some experts also said that perhaps the Sports industry needs to continue to calculate more carefully the number of sports in the score.

Former Head of the Department of High Performance Sports of the Sports Committee (now the Department of High Performance Sports, Vietnam Sports Administration) Nguyen Hong Minh said that it is necessary to reduce the number of sports and key content for the Olympic and ASIAD goals. Thereby, focusing investment resources on key sports after being reduced. Mr. Nguyen Hong Minh cited that developed sports only focus on key investment for about 4-7 sports to compete for Olympic gold medals. The group of sports competing for ASIAD medals also needs to be reduced.

Former Deputy Director General of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training Lam Quang Thanh proposed that key sports should be divided into 3 groups instead of 2 groups as at present. Of which, group 1 alone has only about 3-4 sports and should be considered a national sport, capable of competing for Olympic medals, with a level of investment that is completely different from the remaining groups.

The opinions of experts all have their own reasons, especially when investment in Vietnamese sports from the budget is still limited while socialized resources are similar. President of the Vietnam Taekwondo Federation Truong Ngoc De recounted that, to have athletes win Olympic gold medals, the Thai Taekwondo Federation spent 3 million USD per year (about 75-76 billion VND) while the investment from the budget for Taekwondo of the Vietnam Sports Department is only about 250,000 USD/year. If the mobilized resources from the Vietnam Taekwondo Federation were added, it would take a long time to reach the level of 3 million USD like Thailand. So the only way is to reduce the number of key sports to ensure that they are truly key. Thereby, key sports for the Olympics must have a clear opportunity to compete for Olympic medals, and sports for the ASIAD must have a clear opportunity to compete for ASIAD gold medals. As of now, some sports planned as "key" for the Olympics such as fencing, Taekwondo, or for the Asian Games such as Judo... also find it difficult to compete for Olympic medals or Asian Games gold medals.

The leaders of the Vietnam Sports Administration have promised to consider reducing the group of key sports to prepare for the Olympics and ASIAD in the period of 2026-2046 to ensure that the officially selected sports will be key in the true sense. In other words, this is also to avoid spreading out in the construction of the group of key sports, the sports that will make the position of Vietnamese sports in the coming time.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Tieu-diem-van-hoa/di-tim-trong-diem-cua-trong-diem-i763905/