Национальный стадион Mỹ Đình: История и современное состояние

Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam

The Mỹ Đình National Stadium is a multi purpose stadium in Nam Từ Liêm district, Hanoi, Vietnam. It has a capacity of 40,192 seats and is the centerpiece of Vietnam's National Sports Complex. It was officially opened in September 2003 and was the main venue for the Southeast Asian Games later that year, hosting the opening and closing ceremony as well as the men's football and athletics events. The stadium is home to the Vietnam national football team, and hosts its home international matches. It was also the home venue of the football club Thể Công (now Viettel FC). Located 10 kilometres north west of central Hanoi, the 40,192 seat stadium is the second biggest in the country in terms of capacity and was built at a cost of US$53 million. Arched roofs cover the grandstands on the east and west sides of the arena, providing shelter for half of the seats. The area provides training facilities for the teams with two football training grounds located next to the stadium. Since 2021, the stadium has attracted complaints mainly about the quality of the pitch, starting with its hosting of the Vietnam–Australia match in the third AFC qualification round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It has since come under further scrutiny after hosting Borussia Dortmund in an international friendly, of which the goalpost was broken mid game, and Southeast Asian teams in the 2022 AFF Championship.

Ideas for a new national stadium in Vietnam were marked up in 1998 as the government conducted a prefeasibility study for a national sports complex. In July 2000, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải approved a project of a stadium at the heart of Vietnam's National Sports Complex in preparation for hosting the 2003 Southeast Asian Games. Four firms, namely Hanoi International Group (HISG China), Philipp Holzmann (Germany), Bouygues (France), and Lemna Keystone (United States), participated in the bidding of the stadium's construction. The process was controversial due to violations of technical and financial requirements in HISG and Holzmann's bids, corruption allegations involving a French donation, and the intransparency in the panel's decision making. In the end, HISG won the bid and signed a commitment contract on August 14, 2001. Construction on the stadium started in 2002. During the development phase, the stadium was referred to as Sân vận động Trung tâm ("central stadium"). The stadium was architecturally complete in June 2003. In August 2003, the stadium was officially named Mỹ Đình National Stadium, taking after the name of the commune area the stadium is located within. It was inaugurated on September 2, 2003, to coincide with Vietnam's National Day.

Mỹ Đình National Stadium has hosted various entertainment events. On March 27, 2010, an MTV EXIT concert was held here with the appearance of Korean boy band Super Junior, Australian singer Kate Miller Heidke, along with other local Vietnamese singers. On October 1, 2011, the Irish boyband Westlife performed at the stadium as a part of their Gravity Tour; about 11,000 people attended the concert. The stadium was also the starting location of the 2012 season of The Amazing Race Vietnam. On May 26, 2013, MTV EXIT held a concert featuring the Canadian pop punk band Simple Plan. The stadium has also been the venue for various K pop concerts. It was the venue for a special concert of MBC's Music Core on December 8, 2012, KBS's Music Bank World Tour on March 28, 2015, Asia Artist Awards on November 26, 2019, and two Born Pink concerts by girl group Blackpink on July 29 and 30, 2023.

The stadium has hosted several international FIFA matches. Here is a list of the most important international matches held at the stadium.

DateTime (UTC+7)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance 30 November 200315:001–0Group A (opening match) 30 November 200317:301–1Group A 9 December 200316:002–0Semi final 9 December 200319:004–3Semi final 12 December 200316:301–1 (4–2 pen. )Bronze medal match 12 December 200319:002–1Final

DateTime (UTC+7)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance24 January 200719:000–2Semifinals first leg40.000

DateTime (UTC+7)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance 8 July 200719:302–0Group B39,450 9 July 200717:151–1Group B5,000 12 July 200719:301–1Group B40,000 13 July 200720:301–3Group B5,000 16 July 200717:151–4Group B40,000 21 July 200717:151–1 (4–3 pen. )Quarter final25,000 25 July 200720:152–3Semi final10,000

DateTime (UTC+7)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance17 December 200819:000–0Semifinals first leg40.00028 December 200819:301–1(3 2)Final second leg40.000

DateTime (UTC+7)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance2 December 201017:001–1Group StageN/A2 December 201019:307–1Group Stage40.0005 December 201017:002–1Group StageN/A5 December 201019:302–0Group Stage40.0008 December 201019:301–0Group Stage40.00018 December 201019:000–0(0 2)Semifinals second leg40.000

DateTime (UTC+7)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance8 October 201519:001–1Group F10.00013 October 201519:000–3Group F35.00024 March 201619:004–1Group F18.350

DateTime (UTC+7)Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance7 December 201619:002–2 (3–4)Semifinals second leg40.000

At approximately 11:40 local time on October 6, 2010, an explosion occurred at the stadium. The cause was confirmed to be the ignition of two firework containers due to negligence in the installation of their detonation position; this was a rehearsal for a programme commemorating the millennial anniversary of the establishment of Thăng Long (present day Hanoi), which was scheduled to be held on October 10. The explosion killed four people and injured three.

Since the second half of 2021, criticism had been raised regarding the quality of the pitch and facilities at the stadium. In September 2021, the Vietnamese national team hosted Australia in the third round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers; Australian media and fans at the time compared the Mỹ Đình pitch to a "cow pasture". According to the Lao Động newspaper, the stadium's turf had not been renovated for nearly a decade. In addition, some areas of the stadium had fallen into disrepair due to lack of maintenance. At the request of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the stadium was renovated by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ahead of hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2021 Southeast Asian Games. Ahead of the 2021 SEA Games, the Vietnamese government granted more than to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to repair the stadium alongside the wider National Sports Complex. However, the replacement of the turf was not carried out. Up until the third place match and the final of the men's football event at the 2021 SEA Games, the turf had been damaged due to the installation of the stage for the opening ceremony.

On November 30, 2022, in a friendly match between Vietnam and Borussia Dortmund, in the 86th minute of the match, the crossbar of the Dortmund goal was knocked out, causing the match to be interrupted for 5 minutes. In addition, during the half time break, the technical area of the two teams and the referee's area were blown over many times by the wind.

Criticism of the stadium's condition continued throughout 2022 and 2023. Ahead of the 2022 AFF Cup, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) signed a contract with the National Sports Complex to rent Mỹ Đình as the home stadium of the Vietnamese national team. The rental fee for each match of the Vietnamese national team is , the highest in the venue's history. However, the stadium's turf was described as old, faded, and poor, while not all of its seats had been replaced since their initial installation in 2003. According to the Hanoi Tax Department, the National Sports Complex owed in taxes as of 2023. Moreover, the AFC had assessed that the Mỹ Đình pitch is still in good condition for competition. However, the claim that the pitch's deterioration was due to weather conditions was considered baseless, as the pitch was described to be of good quality when the Vietnamese national team hosted China in the third round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in early 2023. On January 4, 2023, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính commented on the condition of the stadium, questioning the claim that it was not being exploited. In an effort to address the deteriorating condition ahead of the Vietnam–Indonesia match on January 9, the Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyễn Văn Hùng on January 6 requested the Rector of Bắc Ninh University of Physical Education to organize a volunteer activity in which its students would clean up the stadium.