Vietnamese football players using social media: Virtual world, real consequences

In recent days, Vietnamese football fans have repeatedly witnessed several players, both male and female, stirring controversy on social media with their provocative posts, all of which ended up being deleted within hours due to public pressure.

This shows that while social media may be "virtual," the consequences it causes are very "real," and clearly, once players become public figures, any sensitive statements or writings by them can create intense turmoil.

First was midfielder Đức Chiến’s case, whose harsh words aimed at his former club Thể Công Viettel, including the phrase "ungrateful," spread very widely on social media, but not in a positive sense.

Then it was the turn of midfielder Thùy Trang from the Vietnam women's futsal team, who expressed frustration after failing to win the 2025 Vietnamese Women's Golden Ball award.

Right after receiving the 2025 Women's Bronze Ball, Thùy Trang posted on her personal page: "One year of effort and hard work exchanged for… injustice. Thanks for everything," but later this message was edited to: "One year of effort and hard work exchanged for... the Bronze Ball. Thanks for everything," and eventually this post was completely removed.

This means that although Đức Chiến’s and Thùy Trang’s posts did not appear at the same time or day, both disappeared in the same way after facing negative reactions from the online community.

Everyone understands how upset Đức Chiến and Thùy Trang must have been to openly express such emotions, but the problem lies in their attitude, approach, and the targets they aimed at, all of which were inappropriate.