CHAMPIONS: Captain Giorgio Chiellini lifts the Henri Delaunay trophy at Wembley Stadium in London in the UEFA Euro 2020 final. Việt Nam has a long history of broadcasting the European Championship on television, dating back to Euro 88 in West Germany. AFP/VNA Photo
Anh Đức
It's 9,323 kilometres between Việt Nam and Germany, and five-hour time-zone difference.
But passion for football knows no boundaries, and expands beyond space and time. If you're an expat looking to watch the Euros in Việt Nam, look no further. Here's a quick guide on where and how to catch this summer's football fever.
Through the small screen
Việt Nam had a long history of broadcasting the European Championship on television, dating back to Euro 88 in West Germany.
VTV has been the official broadcaster for the past 10 editions, and this year, Việt Nam's biggest public broadcaster will still deliver the Euros action across Việt Nam, after striking a last-minute deal on Thursday with broadcasting rights holder Viettel. 51 matches will be broadcasted live on VTV Cần Thơ, VTV5, VTV3 and VTV2, as well as the VTVGo app.
This Euro, a new and modern player has also come, hoping for viewers to change the channel. TV360, the over-the-top digital streaming application from telecom provider Viettel, was announced as the official broadcasting rights holder in Việt Nam in late 2023, after a successful negotiation with UEFA.
The TV360 app is available for free on the App Store for iOS, on Google Play Store for Android and Android TVs. Fans only have to register a free account, or log in through your phone number if you use Viettel.
For traditional fans or those who do not have access to fancy internet television sets, the Euros are available terrestrially through HTV and THVL, and in other paid services such as K+, VTVCab and SCTV.
The cons are that most of these broadcasts are in Vietnamese. The satellite service K+ is known to have an English-audio option on their sports broadcasts, but whether this option is available for Euro 2024 is still unknown.
Fans looking for foreign language broadcasts may look at services such as the BBC iPlayer for English, or the ARD-Mediathek for German, etc. However, these services might require VPNs to work.
Festival of fans
Don't want to be a couch potato? Dislike the stuffy nature of watching at home? Go outside during match times, and you'll see that the Vietnamese love the Euros too, even if the Golden Star Warriors are not, and surely will never, be playing at the tournament!
An old Vietnamese painter, speaking in a Reuters video report in June 1998 said, "During football season, if anybody works, they are crazy. If the tournament goes on for a year, we'd take a one-year break too."
Gathering en masse to enjoy football was a national tradition in Việt Nam during the early 90s and 2000s, as a TV set was a luxury for most people then.
In cities such as Hà Nội, large exhibition halls and cinemas were rented out to showcase football to large crowds of, perhaps, thousands. While in the countryside, dozens would gather at the only house in the village with a TV, often tiny 13 or 14-inch screens, to experience the excitement.
Today, as the economy progresses, with people even having tiny televisions in their own hands, the world's second most popular international football tournament is shown in almost every café and bia hơi joint in Việt Nam, with some even boasting projectors and giant screens to satisfy a football hungry nation.
Sports bars are also becoming popular in Việt Nam.
One popular spot that expats recommend is Puku Cafe & Sports Bar in Tống Duy Tân Street, Hà Nội, where every popular sport tournament is shown, be it football, basketball, tennis, F1, or even rugby.
In Hồ Chí Minh City common spots for sports fans include Phatty's in District 1, Evita Sports Bar and Dtwo.
All bets are off
Aside from positive vibes, the World Cup and Euros in Việt Nam are also known for a spike in betting and gambling-related crime.
Gambling and sports betting are currently illegal in Việt Nam, despite the number of illegal companies and advertisements that can be found popping up on the internet.
In fact, an online football betting crime network in Việt Nam was dismantled by the police on June 5, just nine days before the Euros starts. In a month, the criminals earned over VNĐ8 billion (US$314,500) through illegal betting.
If a foreigner is caught participating in illegal betting and gambling, he or she may face deportation along with various fines. VNS
OVietnam