Welcoming the Year of the Horse, National Chung Cheng University held its second large-scale Vietnamese migrant workers’ football friendship tournament. The event supported Vietnamese migrant workers far from home by providing a rare holiday opportunity to connect and build friendships through soccer.

Football is Vietnam’s national sport, much like baseball is beloved in Taiwan. Among the more than 200,000 Vietnamese migrant workers currently in Taiwan, many took advantage of rare holidays to bond through the game. On December 21, 2023, with the support of the Viet in Chiayi Cultural Corner in Minxiong, four migrant worker teams from central and southern Taiwan held their first friendly tournament at National Chung Cheng University.

In 2024, the Quang Binh Fellow Association Football Tournament once again chose to hold the event during the Lunar New Year on February 18. The scale expanded further, inviting six Vietnamese migrant worker and international student teams from across Taiwan. The event offered Vietnamese students and workers who were studying and working in Taiwan and unable to return home for the holiday a chance to gather and enjoy playing football together.

This marked the second time migrant worker friends asked Viet in Chiayi to assist with organizing an inter-regional tournament. They also expressed gratitude for the resources provided by National Chung Cheng University’s University Social Responsibility (USR) Office and the Ministry of Culture’s Multicultural Community Development Program.

The organizers chose this venue because National Chung Cheng University features a campus shaded by lush trees with a tranquil environment, equipped with a standard football field, and is recognized as a migrant-friendly university in central and southern Taiwan.

The organizing team told Director Nguyen Kim Hong that they hoped to continue collaborating with the university to host future tournaments, allowing migrant workers and Taiwanese friends to enjoy exciting matches together. Nguyen noted that being able to support migrant workers—who often lack leisure and recreational opportunities—in pursuing their passion for football was a rare honor for Viet in Chiayi.

What was especially impressive about the 2023 tournament was that the migrant worker teams handled everything—from event planning and refereeing to trophies, professional commentary, live streaming, and photography—with remarkable dedication and professionalism. Despite their busy work schedules, they devoted significant effort to organizing the competition, reflecting both their love for football and their strong sense of unity. On match day, many migrant workers and friends came to cheer from the sidelines, and the enthusiastic atmosphere matched the warmth of the day’s weather.

The 2024 friendly tournament began at 9:00 a.m. on February 18, featuring a full day of matches. A brief opening ceremony was held beforehand, with remarks delivered by Professor Hui-Ling Shih, Executive Director of the USR Office at National Chung Cheng University, and Nguyen Kim Hong, Director of Viet in Chiayi Cultural Corner. Football enthusiasts—both migrant workers and Taiwanese friends—were warmly invited to attend and show their support for these Vietnamese youths who had crossed borders to study and work in Taiwan.