Arsenal’s much published friendly with the Vietnam national team will take place at Hanoi’s My Dinh National Stadium on July 17th. While the club’s first visit to Vietnam will bring premier football to the country, the team’s players are being shielded from both Vietnamese fans and local food.
Last Saturday, the Vietnamese Football Association announced that Arsenal would be protected by no less than 2,000 police officers in addition to their personal security detail.
According to Saigon GP Daily, It all started this morning when the team arrived at Noi Boi International Airport where it was processed in the “isolation area” as to avoid autograph-seeking fans. Another “isolation area” welcomed the team at the InterContinental Hanoi.
Apparently, these commitments are taking their toll on the Vietnamese Football Association which faces millions of dollars in fines in the case of a security breach:
"The event is making the Vietnam Football Association ever exhausted because of hard security and food conditions ruled by the team.
Nguyen Trong Hy, Chairman of the Vietnam Football Association said that Vietnam would be harshly fined millions of US dollars for failure of safe protection."
Beyond personal security, the team is worried about their stomachs as Hy told the press that Arsenal would forgo Vietnamese food on their visit.
It's clear that the visit is more about bringing top-level play (and making money) to Vietnam than having the team expierence Vietnam and its rich culture.
Their loss...
