Polish volleyball players will begin their World Championship group stage this Saturday, August 23. The Biało-Czerwone will face Vietnam in their opening match of the tournament in Thailand. The Vietnamese team will play without their biggest star, Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen. Officially, the reason for her absence is “personal reasons”, but unofficially it is said to be fear of gender tests.
Vietnam’s national team will face Poland at the World Championship without Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen, the player famous for scoring… 61 points in a single match (a league record in Vietnam). The major loss has been vaguely explained as “personal reasons”, but rumors suggest that the federation fears the exceptional outside hitter would be required to undergo gender verification.
Star withdraws from the World Championship
It is worth recalling the recent scandal at the U21 World Championship, where two men played on Vietnam’s women’s team. Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen has long been a controversial figure. The Vietnamese hitter impresses with her skills, and her talent has been compared to the greatest stars of world volleyball. She once rejected a lucrative offer from the NCAA to stay in her country and represent Vietnam. However, her career has been marked by more than just sport – suspicions regarding her gender. Since 2023, media and sponsors have pushed for gender testing, sparking a wave of speculation and online hate. Photos of Bich Tuyen with short hair and loose clothing were used as so-called “evidence” by internet users, despite the lack of official confirmation. In 2024, the player returned to the squad for the Challenger Cup, but for the championship in Thailand she has once again been left out.