Reporter Trung Nghĩa of Đồng Nai Cuối Tuần newspaper enjoys a moment with the official ball of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. — Photo courtesy of Trung Nghĩa

HÀ NỘI — Sport in Việt Nam has developed in recent years as many Vietnamese athletes and teams have successfully competed internationally. Contributing to this development is the hard work of reporters and journalists who, in their own words, "eat with sport, sleep with sport, and live with sport."

Sport reporters cover news on sport events, teams, athletes, and fans in a diverse environment through a variety of platforms including radio, television, Internet, and print to ensure their readers are kept up to date with their favourite teams.

"For my first event, the 2000 Euros in the Netherlands and Belgium, I used a digital camera with a 2MB disc. I could take about eight to ten photos and had to replace it with a new one. Now, all stories can be online in seconds and we can do livestreams on different platforms to reach our audience," said reporter Trung Nghĩa of Đồng Nai Cuối Tuần newspaper.

“The development of Internet has led to a remarkable change in fans access to information. They can read and watch news anytime, anywhere through smartphones and other devices.

"This requires reporters covering hot sports events at home and abroad to be more proactive and dynamic to serve demand," said Nghĩa who reported on six World Cups from 2002 to 2022.

Reporters are often witnessers of special moments that they never forget when working.

"It was fair-play spirit and solidarity on the 10,000m field at the 32nd SEA Games. Singaporean and Indonesian athletes helped each other by giving each other drinks during their race," said reporter Nguyễn Tấn of Bình Phước Television.

"It was a moving moment seeing the national flag rising high when Việt Nam won its first men's football gold medal in 60 years at the 30th SEA Games," said Tấn, who had to overcome culture shock while working abroad.

Photographer Ngô Trần Hải An is well known for his stunning photos of Việt Nam and other destinations abroad. He is also a sport photographer who documents many major competitions worldwide.

“It's high pressure work and I'm often tired and couldn't sleep much. But it was great and I'm happy to have done it," said An referring to his time working at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

“To seize a place in the World Cup's 300-seat press conference or a 220-position area for photographers in the stadium is a fierce battle. My working day began at 7am and I returned my hotel at 1am in the next morning. I was exhausted but I'm very proud to have been working at the biggest sporting event on the planet. It was a great opportunity to learn in the most professional international environment,” An said.

Sharing the opinion, senior journalist Trương Anh Ngọc of Vietnam News Agency said working at international events like World Cup or Euro Cup was like a tough marathon.

“It was a race against time to make good work. We had to work from 12 to 16 hours per day, traveling around cities for matches and having little time for eating and resting," said Ngọc.

Senior journalist Trương Anh Ngọc works during his trip to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. — Photo courtesy of Trương Anh Ngọc

"Mentally, it is an exhausting and stressful job because of large volume of work. Physically, we must have good fitness to help us to overcome staying up late, and eating and sleeping irregularly, and that's before even considering the jet lag.

"I kept moving during the events. Sometimes, I walked more than 30km at work. And I had to handle tonnes of work including around 150,000 words overall for prints and many video clips for different television channels,” he said.

Despite challenges and difficulties, these reporters and journalists love their jobs and are eager to participate in more competitions in the future.

"I love going to tournaments and aspire to work as a multi-skilled journalist. My colleagues and I, regardless of our love of the job and being strong physically, fought hard and overcome difficulties of doing the work well. We are so happy to be in this profession, to be traveling around the world, and to bear witness to historical events.”

Their great effort was recognised by athletes, coaches and sport officials alike.

“I would like to express my sincere thanks to the journalists, who over the past five years accompanied and supported my team and me in every tournament. It was your insightful videos and posts that gave the team motivation and confidence to aim for the highest goals," said former head coach of the men's football team Park Hang-seo when he ended his contract.

Meanwhile, Đặng Hà Việt, director of the Việt Nam Sports Administration, said: “The Vietnamese sport reporters and journalists did a remarkable job. They produced up-to-date information so that the country's fans knew about our athletes' training, games and achievements. This plays a key role in the development of national sport”. — VNS