The upcoming 2021 season of the V.League 1 is set to see a total of 14 teams compete when it kicks off on January 16, according to a recent draw hosted by the Vietnam Professional Football JSC (VPF).
The rules of the domestic league mean that each team will be allowed to only register three foreign players, in addition to one naturalised foreigner who now has Vietnamese nationality.
Most notably, Viettel FC, Hanoi FC, and Saigon FC, will be the Vietnamese representatives at continental tournaments hosted by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2021, with each side permitted to register four foreign footballers each.
The 2021 season of the V.League 1 will be divided into two stages, with the initial stage featuring a total of 13 rounds, following which the 14 football teams will be split into two separate groups, Group A and Group B, to determine the league’s title contenders and relegation candidates.
The second stage will see Group A feature the league’s top six teams who will go head-to-head for the championship title, with the remaining eight teams put into Group B to fight to keep their place in the league, with the weakest team consequently being relegated to the V.League 2 for next season.
In line with the schedule, the domestic league is due to conclude before September 30, 2021, in order to allow the players to join up with their respective national teams ahead of the start of international tournaments.
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Source: Vietnam Insider