CC BY
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ИСКУССТВОВЕДЕНИЕ
_FOOTBALL, TELEVISION AND GLOBALISATION IN DOI MOI VIETNAM_
DOI: 10.31618/ESU.2413-9335.2020.6.72.652
Thi Hoa Tran
Department of Linguistics and Literature, University of Science and Education - The University of Danang,
Vietnam
ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the relationship between television and globalisation in Doi Moi Vietnam via the case of football. Using document analysis and participant observation in an ethnographic approach, and drawing on globalisation theories as the theoretical frameworks, the author analyses the changes of football in Vietnam since the country re-opened its door to the world in 1986 and the role television has played in this process. The research suggests the rise of open nationalism as a special feature in Vietnam in the Doi Moi period. From a historical perspective, the paper sees present-day globalisation in Vietnam as a partial result of the past rather than a purely independent period of time.
1.Introduction
Globalisation has been one of the popular words among academics, politicians and the media since the end of the Cold War. In fact, the process of connecting different parts of the world started much earlier, at least since the sixteenth century1 . Tran (2017, p.28) sees globalisation as the process in which cultural, human and economic exchange leads to the displacement of cultures, human and economic activities. Like Appadurai (1997), Tran (2017, p.229) considers the movements of people, cultures and products around the globe as a prominent characteristic of globalisation. Research by Gainsborough (2010), Libby (2011) and Tran (2017) show that neoliberal globalisation has reached Vietnam and had certain effects on the country since Vietnam has been since its re-engagement with the world in the late 1980s.
The twentieth century saw Vietnam go through the hard time of 30 years of war. After the country was reunited in 1975, it suffered from economic difficulties. Since 1986, the CPV started to implement a policy called Doi Moi, the core of which is the abolishment of the state-subsidy economy and the development of the market economy as the country opens its door to the world. It is from this point that Vietnam started an age called the Doi Moi time (1986-present), which the country has become increasingly engaged with the globalisation process.
The period of Doi Moi has paved the way for the emergence a market economy in Vietnam and brought about significant changes in the country2. Sport is one of the fields that have experienced changes in the time of Doi Moi. In other words, Doi Moi policy has opened the door for Vietnam sports to interact with the world, in a process called hoi nhap (integration). Football, as one of the popular sports in Vietnam, has gone through transformations amid this process.
Academics such as Held & McGrew (2007) point out the core of globalisation are the increasing
1 See el-Ojeili & Hayden (2006) and Tran (2017).
2 For example, from a country in short of food, Vietnam has become a rice exporter. Vietnam has normalised the diplomatic relationship with the US and become a
interconnectedness and interaction among nations, areas and regions around the world. Yet the depth and breadth of the term "globalisation" can go further by exploring aspects such as nationalism (Moise, 1988) and hybridity (Tran, 2017). Also, post-Cold War globalisation is characterised by the widening of the free market, or in other words, present-day globalisation is neoliberal, as in Ianni's words (1998, p.1) "Neoliberalism is a discourse which emphasizes the marvels of the world market...". Research done by Appadurai (1996) and Tran (2017) also suggest globalisation has a relationship with the media. In Tran's research, the case of Vietnam provides an illustration of how the neoliberal globalisation has unfolded in a developing country. An examination of globalsation via the case of football can provide a further understanding of the globalisation process in Vietnam through a new perspective: sports, in which football is considered the King.
Research (Desbordes, 2007; Pen, 2013; Seippel, 2017, Acheampong, 2020, Simiyu, 2017, Tran, 2017) show that football has become a globalised sport, a global business that is a part of the globalisation process that move people, products and brands around the world. Given the role of television in the process of globalisation in Vietnam and the growth of football as a global sport and a global business, an academic investigation into the relationship among football, globalisation and television in Doi Moi time can shed light on significant aspects of globalisation in contemporary Vietnam.
2.Data, research methods and theoretical concepts
Drawing on an ethnographic approach, the present research is based on primary data (archival documents collected from the National Archive Centre of Vietnam in Hanoi, most of which are documents of TV policies in Vietnam between 1970 and 2010; memoirs of the researcher when taking part in watching TV in Vietnam
member of regional and international organisations such as ASEAN, APEC and WTO. In February 2020, the European Parliament ratified the European Union -Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
and observing Vietnamese football fans celebrate the national team's victories) and secondary data (published narratives of footballers, writing pieces of football fans and sports journalists, documentaries and news stories on football collected from the Internet). The author herself has been a media audience who has followed the radio, the print, television and the Internet in Vietnam for over 3 decades and has participated in watching many games of Vietnam's national football teams since the 1990 to 2019. Her knowledge and experience in watching football in Vietnam have been utilised as data in this research. Thematic analysis is used to identify the themes that emerge from the documents and notes. Concepts of globalisation theories included nationalism and hybridity help to shed light on the findings to develop the main argument on the emergence of open nationalism, the role of "the regional" and the relationship of the present-day globalisation with previous periods in Vietnam's history.
2.1 Football in Vietnam
Football is not a traditional Vietnamese sport. It was introduced into Vietnam in the colonial time3. It has been played and loved in Vietnam ever since. Football has won the heart of Vietnamese people and the love for this sport has been strong in the Vietnamese people. Nguyen's research (2016) shows the development of football in Vietnam in the pre-1945 period in Cochinchina, with famous teams such as Gia Dinh Sports, Étoiles Blues and Cercle Sportif Saigonais. Even in the time of war, Vietnamese people played football and there were successful football teams in both the North and the South of Vietnam4. In the time of economic difficulty of the state subsidy economy, when there was a shortage of daily necessities of life, there were well-known teams5 and players that took part in the national championship tournaments, and Vietnamese people still showed a great love for football despite of their economic difficulties6. Although the embargo limited the country's relationships, there were still international matches between Vietnam's teams and teams from countries in the socialist-bloc. Players were sent to countries such as East Germany to be trained. The pre-Doi Moi football left the Doi Moi time with experience, memories, coaches and above all, the on-going love of Vietnamese fans for the King of Sports.
In Doi Moi time, Vietnamese football has developed in the direction of professionalisation and integration with the global football industry. Grass-root football and professional football have been popular in Vietnam in both pre-Doi Moi and Doi Moi time. In pre-Doi Moi time, there were football teams that were
3 See Nguyen Duc Hiep (2016).
4 For example, the football team of South Vietnam won the Malaysia's Merdeka Cup in 1966 (see Nguyen Duc Hiep, 2016,). In the North, The Cong was a very successful and popular team.
5 Some famous teams of this time were Cang Sai Gon
and The Cong, and some of the famous players were
Tam Lang and Tu Le.
famous and loved in the country, such as The Cong and Cang Sai Gon, which belonged to state-owned organisations. In Doi Moi time, there were changes to these clubs. Some clubs were transformed, and new ones were established, some of which associated with non-state owned companies. V-League is the tournament for professional football clubs in Vietnam. The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) plays an important role in Vietnam's football today. Football academies have been established to recruit young talents for the development of professional football players. In an improved economy, young players have physical conditions that are better than before. These favourable conditions help to boost Vietnamese football in terms of integration. Vietnam has taken part in regional and international football tournaments such as the AFF Cup and the AFC U-23 Championship, and in important sports events such as SEA GAMES and ASIAD. Both men's football and women's football aim towards large tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics. In addition to men's and women's football, futsal as another version of soccer has evolved in Vietnam in the Doi Moi period. These developments in football of the Doi Moi time were not much seen in the pre-Doi Moi period in reunified Vietnam.
However, the picture of Vietnam's football in Doi Moi time is not all rosy. The development road for football in Vietnam has not been straight ahead. Rather, there have been times of ups and down. In the time of Doi Moi, upon facing changes, some famous football teams of pre-Doi Moi time could not survive. The once popular names such as Cang Sai Gon or The Cong now belong the past. In the 90s, Vietnam made achievements in football by winning the AFF Cups and high places at the SEA Games. Yet in 2003, a football scandal shocked the nation as a group of players of the national team was associated with match fixing at a football match at the 23rdd SEA Games in Bacolod, the Philippines. Vu (2019, p.29) called the years from 2007 to 2017 "a decade of mistakes" of Vietnam's football, when "fans were disheartened and desperate" (p.38). Not until 2018, with successive wins at 2018 Asian U-23 and AFC Cup that the interest of the majority of Vietnamese football fans in Vietnam's football was rekindled. The integration process has started for Vietnam's football, but is still in its initial steps. Not all Vietnamese football players who joined foreign clubs gained success7. Viet kieu (oversea Vietnamese) players who joined Vietnamese football teams need to adapt to the Vietnamese culture, which is not the same with the Western/European cultures of the countries where they were born or they grew up. Although the national team have made impressive achievements at
6 See narratives of people living in the state subsidy time in Chuyen thoi bao cap (2018), "Nghe va doc thoi bao cap" (p.122), Do Nhu Cat, volume 3 and "Ke chuyen bong da thoi bao cap" by Si Huyen, volume 3 (p.131)
7 Desbordes et al. (2007) note that European clubs' desire to develop their brands in the Asian market lead to the transfers of some Asian players to European clubs.
SEA Games or AFF Cup, they have never been in the world's top 32 teams that reach the tournament phase of FIFA World Cup. Vietnam's football, thus, need further efforts to go farther.
2.2.Television in Vietnam
In comparison with football, television in Vietnam has a later development. Television was first introduced in South Vietnam in the 1966 and North Vietnam in 1970. In post-war Vietnam, the economic difficulties and embargo did not created favorable conditions for the development of TV. Since Doi Moi, television has developed significantly as the government invested a great deal into this industry and there have been financial support from nations such as France and Spain.8 Longer time of broadcasting, popular access to TV sets, better quality of images and sounds, updated news, live broadcast, successfully purchased broadcasting right programs, the wider variety of programs, new international cooperation activities are some of the achievements of TV in Vietnam in the Doi Moi period. Television has changed from a pure communication tool of the government into a dual role of both information providing and economic developing (as seen via the development of TV advertisements) (Tran, 2017).
2.3.Football, TV and globalisation in Doi Moi Vietnam
2.3.1. Football and the market
Modern football, invented in England in the 19th century, has become a global sport. Today, football has developed both as a popular sport and a business that bring about huge financial benefits9. These come from different sources, such as TV broadcast rights, advertising and transfers. Therefore, it is possible to see football both as a sport and a business that has created its own market and is a part of the global market. This is similar to the way music, which is originally a form of art and entertainment, has developed into a profitable global industry10. In a neoliberal globalisation time, both sports and music have become businesses belonging to the global market.
In Doi Moi time, the word hoi nhap (integration) has become popular in many fields in Vietnam, including sports and football. Football in Vietnam has changed as the economy changes. In the state subsidy economy, football is not a business. In pre-Doi Moi time, there were famous football teams that were under the management of state organisations. The Cong and Cang Saigon were among those teams. These teams
8 These are findings from researching archival documents at the National Archive Centre III in Hanoi, Vietnam.
9 For example, according to BBC Sport, some statistics from EURO 2016 are: total tournament revenue is 1.93bn euros, total income after costs is 830 million euros, and the tournament created 25 000 full-time jobs (see Euro 2016: just 298 tune out during Iceland v England game, BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36755192.
10 For example, Soesmanto (2018) , in his article on K-
popnomics, shows that "In 2016, global revenue from
K-pop reached $US4.7bilhon" Throsby (2002, p.2-6),
played very well, but they never showed in advertisements, which did not exist in state-subsidy economy. In the Doi Moi period, clubs have been associated with companies, among which there are non-state-owned companies or corporations. The V-League has had different sponsors who are companies and businesses11. In the Doi Moi period, when the market economy develops, football is a sport that can yield financial benefits. The images of today's famous players can be seen on advertisements. The football industry in Vietnam began to function in the way professional football functions in the world12. The V-League is the national competition among professional clubs in Vietnam, which have both Vietnamese and foreign players. There have been transfers of players between clubs not only domestically but also internationally13. The foreign players who have played for Vietnamese clubs, and the Vietnamese players who have played for foreign clubs on transfer contracts show that football in Vietnam can function as a part of the global football market.
The engagement with the market and becoming a part of the market has brought about changes in Vietnamese football. As football becomes professionalised, today's players do not have to experience the economic difficulties that those in the pre-Doi Moi did. Famous players today may live in villas or apartments, enjoy holidays at resorts and wear clothes from famous brands in the world. Awards that come from companies after the victory can be a source of income. Famous faces also can be seen on advertisements. Transfers of players can bring in financial benefits. The financial benefits of football are obvious, as the football market develops in Doi Moi Vietnam.
2.3.2.Football and nationalism in Doi Moi Vietnam
Seippel (2017, p.57) points out that "sport nationalism is everywhere, yet in different guises". Seippel's research in sport nationalism does not include Vietnam in the group of countries that are in the data analysis, but his conclusion shows the significance of sport journalism, especially football "as fuel for nationalism in a global age" (p.57). Meanwhile, Penn's research in English and Italian football between 19302010 shows that Italian football has become more open to foreign coaches and there is a "much less nationalistic policy" (Penn, 2007, p.345) for the recruitment of Seri A coaches in the 1930-1950 period,
also presents notable figures of the revenue brought about by the music industry.
11 Some of the sponsors of V-League have included Toyota and LS.
12 Today, Vietnam has V-League for football, which is similar to Thai-league in Thailand, J-League in Japan, K-League in South Korea or Premier League in England.
13 For example, Amido Balé plays for Ho Chi Minh City Football Club (V-League), Dang Van Lam plays for Muangthong United (Thai-League), Doan Van Hau plays for the Dutch club SC Heerenveen.
whereas clubs in England have all British players and coaches in the 1930-1970 period. Tamir (2014) finds the decline of nationalism among football fans. These findings suggest sport nationalism is different from nations to nations.
This research looks at sport nationalism in Vietnam mainly via the football fans. In Vietnam, many Vietnamese football fans follow their beloved clubs and players with the excitement that linked closely to the word Vietnam. Vietnamese football fan has a strong love for football. Even in the hard time of economic difficulty, when TV was not popular and people followed the games via the radio and the print, football fans showed their interest in international football. Yet the strongest craze often show when the Vietnamese national football teams play and win. Big crowds would pour into street with the national flags, and show their happiness by shouting, dancing, motorbike and car marching, which is called by the newly-made phrase "di bao" [go out in the street and make a storm to celebrate the victory of the football team] in Vietnamese language. The slogan "Viet Nam vo dich" [Vietnam is the champion] could be heard from Vietnamese football fans, young and old, after the national football team won the gold medal at the 30th SEA GAMES. The song Vietnam oi become more popular since the rise of Vietnam's U-22 team at Changzhou, China in 2018. The victory of the national football team become the shared victory of the nation and shared joy of Vietnamese football fans. Some Vietnamese people become "temporary" football fans when the national team plays at international tournaments, while they do not show much care to football in other occasions. Some quitted following the team when they were disappointed at the national team's being defeated. All of this shows how national football is intertwined with nationalism in Vietnam.
However, "football nationalism" in Doi Moi Vietnam is special in the way it has adopted foreign elements. This is nationalism in the time of globalisation, when there is increasing exchanges and close relationships among nation. In Doi Moi time, the national football team has been led by several foreign coaches, the names of some linked with the success of the national team. For example, Mr. Calisto was the coach when Vietnam won AFF Cup in 2008, Mr. Weigang was at this position when Vietnam won silver medals for men's football at 1995 SEA Games, and Mr. Park Hang seo has been the coach when Vietnam won AFF Cup for the second time in 2018 and the gold medal for men's football at the 30th SEA Games. The Vietnamese often talk about these men with respect. It is the contribution of foreign coaches and Viet kieu (oversea Vietnamese) players that make football nationalism become more open, or we can address herein after as "open nationalism" - a special form of nationalism in the time of neoliberal globalisation today.
Open nationalism is special in the way it adopts hybridity, as seen in the presence of Viet kieu players in Vietnamese clubs and even in the national football
team. Tran (2017) identified hybridity a prominent feature in Vietnamese culture and television in Doi Moi time. Hybridity can also be seen in Vietnam's football in this age. Viet kieu players represent hybridity in Vietnam football. These Viet kieu players are often young (born mostly in the 1990s), and are the offspring of the Vietnamese who migrated in the 1990s. Some of the Viet kieu players have contributed significantly to football in today's Vietnam. For example, the goal keeper Dang Van Lam contributed greatly to the victory of Vietnam team in the 2018 final match. Other well-known Viet kieu players included the Australian-born Martin Lo and player Mac Hong Quan. Mac Hong Quan was born in Vietnam but grew up in Slovakia and come back to Vietnam to play football. With good physical form and skills, the Viet kieu player have contributed to today's football in Vietnam. When the Viet kieu players such as Dang Van Lam did well and contributed to the wins of the national teams, he was much praised. With a national team headed by a Korean coach and including a Russian Viet kieu player and won at international AFF Cup and SEA GAMES, fans in Vietnam come to accept a form or nationalism that is open that needs to accept and adapt in order to survive and thrive in the football global competition. Thus, in a globalised world, where interactions and exchanges are accepted, there is a substantial change in nationalism. In other world, globalisation turns "pure nationalism" into "open nationalism". This can be considered a form of hybridity in globalisation theories.
2.3.3.Football and TV in Doi Moi Vietnam
Football can bring about great benefits for the TV industry. The literature14 shows that television is an important partner of the football business, with high revenue coming from marketing and advertisements. In fact, the football has been a source of financial benefits for TV. For example, Euro 2016 brought about 1.05 euros TV rights income15. TV can help in developing brands of clubs, players and clubs.
In Vietnam, before TV became popular, other media talked about football: the print, and then radio. Nguyen's research (2016) reveals how the print media followed football and reported football matches in the colonial time. In pre-Doi Moi time, there were days when fans gather around loudspeakers to listen to live radio reporting of football matches. The age of TV in Vietnam came in the 1990s, when Vietnam's football re-integrated with the regional football. Although the history of football is longer than that of television, in the time of Doi Moi, these two industries have developed a symbiosis. This is a relationship where both side benefit from each other. Football is a source of newsmaker for TV. Football makes a part in the sport news of TV, live telecasts attract TV viewers. There is a separate channel in football called Bongda TV. Television helps to promote football via news stories, live telecasts of matches, football analysis programs
14 For example, see Desbordes (2007).
15 BBC Sport (2016)
and even music16. Football reaches the large audience and fans in Vietnam partly via TV. Football relies on television in time of the global Covid-19 pandemic, when matches were set to go on without most of on-stadium audience and television reported the matches to the football fans. Meanwhile, there are advertisements in the break time of the football matches, or TV advertisements with the contribution of famous football players. Thus, in Doi Moi time, TV has become a significant partner with football in Vietnam. By reporting, commenting, live broadcasting of football matches and other football-related events, TV has connected football with its fans and audience, and connected Vietnamese with other peoples in the world via the common interest in football.
Football might very well be one of the major advantages of television as a media. Today's television faces competition from the Internet, especial social media. Yet for football, television has its own significant strength. Live broadcast of Vietnam's national football matches in international games such as AFF Cup, ASIAD attracted a lot of Vietnamese TV viewers. From families to cafés, Vietnamese football fans gather to follow the games that are broadcast live. TV has the advantages of providing clear, nice images of the game and close-up images of the activities of the players thanks to the technological facilities (cameras). Slow-motion rewinding of footages of goals, shots, the falls of players, or even every professional moves or gestures of an individual player or coach showcase the beauty of football as a sport, and this certainly make football matches more interesting and attractive. The voice of the commentators is another attraction of football matches. Television can provide a large audience with high quality live footage of football matches. In this aspect, professional cameramen of a TV station can do better than smartphone users who can do live streaming of a match. Radio commentators can do very well with the voice, but radio lacks in images. E-newspapers can update the match to minutes, with live reporting, but still, not overdo the multi-camera of the TV stations at the stadium. At this stage, for live broadcast of football matches, television is the best option for football fans who want to follow the game and enjoy the beauty of football via the moving pictures. Also, the honest, up-to-dated coverage of all sides of football (i.e. including both bright and dark side), are necessary to serve the information need of audience and help football develop.
The interest of Vietnamese television in Vietnam's football has push this sport to a higher place of national joy, solidarity, heightened nationalism that goes together with the awareness and openness to the relationships with other nations and other peoples. Even foreign TV channels reporting about Vietnam's football bring images of Vietnam to audience outside
Vietnam17. The development of TV in Vietnam has also brought international football closer to Vietnamese people. Today TV broadcasters in Vietnam can purchase broadcast rights of the FIFA World Cup matches. Modern facilities installed at TV stations in the Doi Moi time, well-equipped professional sports reporters sent to the stadium, together with the broadcasting right enable TV broadcasters bring to Vietnamese football fan the high quality live telecasts of the game. Meanwhile, high quality TV sets at home, cafes and public places can bring to viewers the opportunities to follow the matches of their favourite teams at their convenience and comfort. The love for football of Vietnamese people is not only for their national teams, but also for famous clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Juventus. Famous World Cup songs such Un estate Italian (World Cup 1990), The Cup of Life (World Cup 1998) and Waka waka (World Cup 2010) became popular not just at World Cup time but also later. In terms of language, the reporting of international football has brought new English football terms into Vietnam. Words such as play-off, hat trick, league and cup are used on TV frequently (in Vietnamese sports news bulletins). Vietnamese football fans become familiar to names of foreign players and coaches. On the other hand, the names of Vietnamese players are seen more often on TV channels when the national team play at international tournaments. The names are modified a little by taking of the diacritics18. Lots of English words such as shot, goal, foul and corner can be seen on live broadcast of international football matches. These are subtle changes, yet they indicate that TV and the interactions and exchanges in the sport can lead to the changes in the language in Vietnam's media.
Also, the presence of foreign players at clubs, Viet kieu players in the national team, and the transfers of Vietnamese players to foreign clubs in Asia and Europe, the live telecasts of Vietnamese broadcasts of clubs games in Europe, the participations of Vietnam's clubs and national teams in international tournaments confirms the trend that Penn (2017) called "the globalisation of football" (Penn, p.348) in the Vietnam's context. And through the case of football, it is possible to see that television programs play a role in the process of globalisation in today's Vietnam. Sports programs, especially football matches, bring a part of the world to Vietnam and a part of Vietnam to the world. Live broadcast of matches in the World Cup or the UEFA Champion League and news stories of football clubs and football players on Vietnamese TV channels make the names and images of famous clubs and players familiar in Vietnam. Christiano Ronaldo can be seen on TV advertisements. Players of Vietnam such as Doan Van Hau or Dang Van Lam who join foreign clubs make news on TV. Stories of oversea
16 For example, the song Vietnam oi has been popular since the U-23 team played successfully in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.
17 For example, see the story of France 24 English on
Vietnam's football, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eTsi4ICKnA .
18 For example, the name of Doan Van Hau (as written in Vietnamese language) became Van Hau on TV screen when the international matches which he took part in was broadcast live on TV.
Vietnamese players (cau thu Viet kieu) are reported on TV. Live broadcast of matches between Vietnam's national football teams and the national teams of other countries from China, the Philippines and Malaysia and news stories of the team's activities in these countries provide Vietnamese people with information and knowledge of the places.
Thus, football in Doi Moi time, with television as a partner, has acted as a connector in the process of bringing Vietnam to the world and vice-versa. In the last 30 years of Doi Moi, The globalisation process of Vietnam football has begun. Nevertheless, there are still a lot to be done. Football has to put effort in gaining more success at Asian tournaments and reaching the tournament phase of FIFA World Cup. As for TV, despite the fact that TV plays a significant part in reporting football with live telecasts and post-match commentary programs, TV as a mass medium today faces increasing challenges from the Internet. In Doi Moi time, TV has provided viewers with plentiful, diverse and up-to-dated information on football, but the rapid development of the Internet with increasing availability and access (e.g. via smartphones) is turning TV stations into production and broadcasting teams rather than the sole attractor of all football fans. In other words, the Internet can share the viewers with TV. As technology develops, the Internet can provide information that audience need regarding football. With live texts and up-to-the minute news about the games and related stories, as well as improved smartphones, the Internet has the ability to take a part of audience from TV. Instead of waiting in front of the TV for the sport news, audience and go to the Internet, click on Google or YouTube and get the information they want in a very short time. This is an increasing challenge to TV, and TV is becoming more internetized in order to survive and keep its audience.
TV football programs, then, acts as a thick point of globalisation, where copyrights bring financial deals, where national football teams as representatives of nations and ethnicity meet, language exchanges happen, human resource movement showed, nationality is showcased, awareness and knowledge of other countries grows. Thus, television is certainly a part of the process of present-day globalisation in Vietnam, as seen through the case of football. Through this, it is possible to see globalisation in Vietnam as a complex process that originated from previous times and included a dialectical relationship between the global and the local, with a significant role of the regional as a median in between. This highlights the role of previous periods to present-day neoliberal globalisation, as they show their significance via the heritage and legacies they left to today. It also sheds light on the significant role of the regional in the process of globalisation. The case football in Doi Moi Vietnam suggests that it is likely that developing nations or countries that are not superpowers need to go regional to be able go global19.
Another important point is the role of "the regional" in the process of development and globalisation for Vietnam. It is worth noting that, since Doi Moi up till the present, 2018 and 2019 is the time when the Vietnam men's national football team have made the highest achievements: won the gold medal at the 30th SEA Games, won the AFF Cup for the second time, reached the final at the 2018 Asian U-23, and reached the quarter final at Asian Cup. All these achievements were made when the national team is with the Korean coach Park Hang seo. Mr Park is not the first foreign coaches in Vietnam in the Doi Moi time, and others (from Europe and America) have made significant achievements, but it is Mr Park who has led the national team to the best results so far. This example shows how effective "the regional" is in promoting development and bringing "the national" closer to "the global". Future research requires further examination to unpack this point, clarifying the role of the proximity in geography and culture play in helping nations be connected and develop in our globalised world.
3.Conclusion This paper has looked at the relationship between football, TV and globalisation in Doi Moi Vietnam. It has pointed out the emergence of a form of open nationalism in VN in the time of globalisation. Open nationalism accept "the foreign" and "the hybrid" in order to promote the national. The analysis of the present research also reveals the two contradictory aspects of football as showed in today's Vietnam: the globalisation of football versus football nationalism. The paper also sheds light on the role TV plays in the process of globalisation, pointing out that it is feasible to understand globalisation through the case of a Western-imported sport in Vietnam and the reactions of TV to this sport. It shows that Doi Moi started the process of neoliberal globalisation in Vietnam, but this process is still at its initial stage and has to go through a median stage of regionalisation. Since Doi Moi started, although the world has reached Vietnam (e.g. via TV programs, via imported players and coaches and via Vietkieu players), successful Vietnam football need to reach the sub-region (South East Asia), then the region (Asia) before it can go further. Therefore, via the case of Vietnam football and TV in the time of Doi Moi, the globalisation process can be seen as a complex process in which the global reaches the local and the local goes regional before it goes global. This highlights the role of the region in the process of globalisation, and the interactive nature of globalisation. The case of Vietnam football in Doi Moi time then provides an example for the academic reflection on the development road map/pattern of a developing nation in the time of post-Cold War globalisation. Significantly, this research suggests that the post-Cold War period globalisation should not be viewed as a single, purely independent stage in human history. Instead, from a historical perspective, neoliberal globalisation needs to be examined in the
19 Vietnam becomes a member of ASEAN in 1995, before become a member of WTO in 2007. The regional is important as seen through the role of EU.
light of the legacies left by the past or previous stages. Current factors are certainly of great importance, but the past has its own voice in shaping the present-day process of globalisation.
4.Acknowledgement
This research is funded by Funds for Science and Technology Development of the University of Danang under project number B2018-DN03-24.
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About the author
Dr Thi Hoa Tran is a lecturer in Journalism at University of Science and Education, The University of Danang, Vietnam. Her main research interests are globalisation, Vietnamese culture and the media in Vietnam.
