Do Thể Công - Viettel self-produce their kits in Asian competitions?

Jersey Story· 04/11/2026

You might not know that in both of their continental cup campaigns under Li-Ning, Thể Công - Viettel wore... self-manufactured kits.

Indeed, for various reasons, the military representatives were unable to wear standard match kits from the leading Chinese sportswear brand when stepping onto the AFC Cup stage.

Thể Công - Viettel tại AFC Champions League Two 2026/27

In the 2022 AFC Cup, Viettel's players at the time took to the pitch in custom-made kits featuring the Li-Ning logo. This was actually a "quick fix" solution previously used by the team temporarily during the first leg of the V.League 1 that same year, before the official kit shipment arrived in the second half of the season.

Heading into the 2026/27 season, for reasons unknown, Thể Công - Viettel's kits in the AFC Champions League Two were noticed to have quite different materials and colours compared to the "authentic" version used domestically. According to Chuyện Áo Đấu's speculation, the reason might stem from Li-Ning's original design violating AFC regulations (which do not allow printing the team name on the front of the shirt), forcing the team to hurriedly use self-produced kits as a quick fix.

So sánh áo đấu của Thể Công tại cúp châu lục (trái) và quốc nội (phải)

In fact, the army club is not the first case of having to make their own kits on the continental stage despite having a kit supplier. Previously, Hà Nội FC also had to wear white custom-made kits under the Kappa brand when participating in the 2017 AFC Cup.