Female ref to attend London Olympics

Two female Vietnamese referees have been assigned by FIFA to officiate in the preliminary round of football for the London Olympics, the Viet Nam Football Federation announced yesterday.

Mai Hoang Trang of HCM City and assistant Kieu Thi Thuy of Ha Noi will be in charge of the women's qualifiers next year.

Trang and Thuy were approved by FIFA in 2007.

Viet Nam has three FIFA accredited female referees and two assistants.

Last year, FIFA also called up four male referees – Vo Minh Tri, Phung Dinh Dung, Nguyen Ngoc Ha and Nguyen Hoang Minh – to officiate over two men's qualifiers.

The federation has also submitted Vo Quang Vinh of Khanh Hoa and Hoang Anh Tuan from Ha Noi to FIFA for approval this year.

FIFA regulations state that member countries should nominate 20 men as qualified referees or linesmen each year, but Viet Nam presently lacks qualified personnel.

After match fixing scandals rocked the nation in 2007, around 40 referees and officials were suspended pending a police investigation.

Volleyball Federation to get new head

The Volleyball Federation of Viet Nam (VFV) will appoint a new general secretary for the next five-year term, the federation announced at a recent press conference.

Current VFV general secretary, Tran Duc Phan who was assigned as head of the national sports administration's elite sport department last year, decided to withdraw from the federation after an executive board meeting last week.

At the meeting, the VFV also agreed to hire a foreign coach for the men's national team, and host the Asian Women's Clubs Championship on May 15-25.

Volleyball was the second sport, after football, to become professionalised four years ago.

Thien anticipates Auckland progress

Teenager Nguyen Hoang Thien will compete in the Auckland 18 and Under ITF Summer Championship from January 31 to February 5.

Thien, 16, who became the first ever Vietnamese player at the Australian Open Junior Championship last week, will spend Tet (Lunar New Year) in New Zealand in preparation for the event.

The HCM City boy, who has gained 40 singles wins, is hopeful of reaching the International Tennis Federation's top 100 junior ranking within the next two years.

He moved up 10 places from 232nd to 222nd in the ITF's ranking this month. — VNS

Related Articles

• Writers’ temple to display bronze drums
• Banks to face stricter rule on real estate loans
• Tet gala cheers up stranded city workers
• Tet traditions honour Kitchen Gods
• Can software receive patent protection?

Uncertainty hangs over World Cup hosting

Photo: Reuters

The contest to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, due to be decided by soccer's governing body FIFA has been discredited and thrown into uncertainty by allegations of vote-selling.

Two members of FIFA's executive committee -- Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Reynald Temarii of Tahiti -- were provisionally suspended on Wednesday for 30 days by the ethics committee.

It is alleged they offered to sell their votes when approached by Sunday Times reporters posing as lobbyists for an American consortium.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said on Wednesday he expected the vote to go ahead on December 2, but the soccer's governing body will have to act quickly and decisively to ensure it does.

England and Russia are bidding to host the 2018 World Cup along with joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands while Japan, South Korea, Qatar, United States and Australia are candidates for 2022.

Voting dilemma

Voting rights are restricted to the 24 members of the FIFA executive committee. This compares to more than 100 voting members when the International Olympic Committee chooses venues for the Summer and Winter Olympic games.

If Adamu and Temarii are expelled, it is unclear whether they would immediately be replaced -- FIFA statutes dictate that regional confederations choose the executive committee members -- or whether the vote would be reduced to 22.

Bidding nations may protest if the size of the already-small electoral college is reduced still further.

FIFA officials on Wednesday did not want to discuss either scenario, saying it was premature.

"I'm not a prophet," head of the ethics committee Claudio Sulser said. "It's hard for me to answer, it depends on the evidence that is brought forward."

Ethics committee

FIFA's ethics committee is relatively new, having been created in 2006. Its first chairman was former British athlete Sebastian Coe while Sulser is a lawyer and former Swiss soccer international.

One of its main briefs is to keep watch over the bid process for 2018 and 2022.

The committee said it would produce a final verdict on Temarii and Adamu by mid-November.

"I think we can take a decision before December2... probably between November 15 and 17," Sulser said.

Possible collusion

Two unnamed candidate nations will also be investigated for breaching rules on collusion.

FIFA has rules banning bidding nations from making agreements with each other, but collusion was something critics said could become a possibility when it was decided to choose two World Cup hosts at the same time.

The ultimate penalty could be disqualification of the offending bids, but FIFA on Wednesday were reluctant to discuss this possibility, saying there were numerous stages to pass before such a drastic measure might be taken.

Related Articles

• Green cars begin world race
• Visit hell then heaven
• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy
• Girls gear up for Vietnam’s Next Top Model
• NA ponders environmental-tax law

Qatar unveils 'island' World Cup stadium

The CEO of the Qatar 2022 Bid Committee Hassan Al Thawadi presents new official ambassador Zinedine Zidane with a personalized shirt in Doha

Photo: Reuters

Qatar unveiled its ultra-modern Lusail Stadium on Wednesday which would host the opening match and World Cup final in 2022 if its bid to stage the tournament wins FIFA's approval in December.

The air-conditioned stadium, which would have a capacity of 86,000, would take four years to build, would expected to be completed by 2019 and would also be surrounded by water. If Qatar loses its bid, the ground will not be built.

Bid CEO chairman Hassan Al-Thawadi told Reuters at the Leaders in Football conference that with eight weeks to go before FIFA make their decision, he was optimistic that Qatar could stage the first World Cup in the Middle East.

Qatar's candidature received some criticism from FIFA's inspection team last month when Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the head of the FIFA delegation, said that the country's small size, rather than the summer temperatures that can soar to above 50 degrees Celsius, could cause logistical problems.

Qatar would become the smallest host nation to stage the finals since Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930 if it won FIFA's approval.

However, Al Thawadi, speaking to Reuters in a private room at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge ground, said his team had responded to the inspection team's observations.

"If you look at their comments, they did not refer to the weather and for us that was a great, great success. A lot of people thought that our Achilles heel was the weather, but we have proved with our air-conditioned technology, we can overcome that.

"Regarding some of their comments regarding logistics and so on -- we are proposing a unique and innovative concept -- a compact World Cup (because of the size of the country).”

"Whenever you are pioneering a new concept it requires time for people to understand it,” he added. “There will be skeptics, and they are right to be skeptical, but we think although those concerns might be valid, we are able to overcome them."

The Lusail Stadium completes the line-up of the 12 stadiums Qatar would use in 2022 and would incorporate the air-conditioning technology the country has pioneered to make their stadiums more comfortable.

Qatar is one of four bids for the 2022 finals along with Australia, South Korea and Japan. They are spending US$4 billion dollars building nine new stadiums and renovating three others.

Due to the format of the FIFA bidding process, the five bids trying to host the 2018 finals are also going for 2022 -- in theory at least -- with England, Russia, the United States and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands in contention.

All bidding nations presented their candidatures before delegates at the conference, apart from Australia.

The bidding war for the World Cup is beginning to intensify with FIFA president Sepp Blatter planning to visit British Prime Minister David Cameron in London next week.

FIFA will announce which countries will stage each event in Zurich on December 2.

Related Articles

• Green cars begin world race
• VN backs UN’s central role in disarmament
• Economic recovery helps businesses increase salaries
• Visit hell then heaven
• Hanoi’s sustainable development in limelight

FIFA track transfers with new online system

FIFA President Sepp Blatter

Photo: AFP

FIFA said on Wednesday that a more transparent online system for international player transfers would become compulsory on October 1, helping to protect under 18 year-olds.

The Transfer Matching System (TMS) has been tested in 18 countries since February 2008 and gradually expanded, currently covering 3,633 clubs, allowing footballing authorities to see more details on each transfer.

Each club involved in a transfer has to enter the same details including bank accounts, amounts of money, timing and pay, with added documents such as identity documents and contracts, or it will be blocked.

"This is an historic moment for football," said FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

"TMS is a relatively simple online system but it will have a tremendous impact on the international transfer of players.

"The most important thing is that it increases the transparency of individual transactions and helps us tackle issues such as the fight against money laundering and protection of minors in transfers," Blatter added.

World football's governing body FIFA argued that by keeping track of player histories it can ensure that clubs are compensated properly for training upcoming youngsters who then leave, and help limit the international movement of under-18s under rules introduced last year.

FIFA slapped a transfer ban on Chelsea that was overturned on appeal in May, in a dispute between the Londoners and Lens over the transfer of now 19 year-old Gael Kakuta from the French club in 2007.

Related Articles

• Cashew traders yet to embrace trading center system
• Party supervision is on track but discipline still lacking, says leader
• Vietnam needs to improve corporate governance in banks: US advisor
• Thousands await relocation
• Vietnam Air accepts web check-in for int’l flights

FIFA lifts ban on 2 Vietnamese footballers

Pham Van Quyen

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The world football governing body FIFA has lifted its ban on Vietnamese footballers Van Quyen and Van Truong a year early, the Vietnam Football Federation announced last Thursday.

Along with Hai Lam, Quoc Anh, Bat Hieu, and Phuoc Vinh, they were banned from international competition from 2007 to 2011 for match-fixing at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.

No explanation has been given for the action but the head of the VFF’s discipline department, Nguyen Hai Huong, said last month he would recommend a lifting of the ban to FIFA.

“We are considering letting them return to the game as soon as possible,” he added.

The national team are at a preparatory camp for the AFF Suzuki Cup to be co-hosted by Indonesia and Vietnam from December 1 to 29.

The six players have been permitted to play in the V-league since 2008 and have scored consistently for their clubs, coach of V-League club Song Lam Nghe An, Nguyen Huu Thang, said.

They fixed the result of the match between Vietnam and Myanmar so that the former won by just a goal and each of them got VND30 million (US$1,600) for this.

Related Articles

• Credit sluggish as banks prefer bond purchases
• Overnight interbank rates exceed 8%
• Banks scramble for mid-level managers
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand
• Bad book-keeping cuts SME credit access

FIFA to consider axing extra time at World Cups - Blatter

FIFA President Sepp Blatter

Photo: Reuters

FIFA is to consider abolishing extra time at the World Cup and going straight to penalties if knockout matches are drawn, the federation's president Sepp Blatter said on Thursday.

Blatter also said that FIFA would look at ways of encouraging teams to play a more attacking game after a flurry of low-scoring contests in the early stages of this year's World Cup in South Africa.

"In the first few matches of the group stage in South Africa, we witnessed some teams that went out to avoid defeat, that were playing for a draw from the outset," he told FIFA's website (www.fifa.com).

"This is a topic that I would like to discuss at upcoming football and technical committee meetings.

“We have to try to find a way to encourage free-flowing football in tournaments like the World Cup, with teams playing to win.

Blatter's remarks differ from an interview he gave to the German magazine Focus last month, when he was quoted as saying FIFA were considering penalty shootouts to provide a winner when drawn matches ended goalless.

"Often we see teams set themselves up even more defensively in extra time, in an attempt to avoid conceding a goal at all costs.

"To prevent this, we could go directly to a penalty shootout at full time, or reintroduce the golden goal rule. We'll see what emerges from the Committee meetings."

Related Articles

• Green cars begin world race
• Vietnam, Laos to open joint wartime museum
• More Vietnamese goods head for regional markets
• Poor rural children blaze education trail
• American mother helps to ease pains of war

AFC chief Bin Hammam rules out bid for FIFA presidency

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohamed Bin Hammam speaks during an AFC congress in Kuala Lumpur May 8, 2009

Photo: Reuters

Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed Bin Hammam on Friday ruled out a bid for the FIFA presidency next year, opening the door for Sepp Blatter to run the world game for another four years.

The 61-year-old Qatari is seen as a successor to the 74-year-old Swiss and one of the few people with the potential to unseat him, but he appears ready to bide his time.

"Let me be very clear, I will not run for the next FIFA election,” Bin Hammam told AFP. “I will be backing Sepp Blatter to remain in office for a new mandate.”

His decision not to run follows a similar move by Michel Platini earlier this year. The Frenchman was also considered a key candidate but he will seek a second term as UEFA president instead.

Bin Hammam, a FIFA executive committee member, said he would similarly seek re-election as AFC president next year.

"My aim is to run for the next election of AFC president due at the start of 2011," he said.

"Hopefully I will get the full confidence of all the national associations."

The Qatari, seen as a modernizer, has been AFC chief since 2002 and has overseen the launch of the AFC Champions League and the admission of Australia into the confederation.

After 12 years in office, Blatter has made clear he has no plans on leaving when his term runs out on June 11, 2011, saying he has not finished his mission.

The Swiss was elected FIFA president in 1998 and won a fierce re-election fight in 2002 before being returned unopposed in 2007.

The Asian bloc, the biggest football confederation in the world, wields 46 votes in the presidential election and will play a vital role in deciding whether Blatter continues his reign.

Bin Hammam rocked the boat earlier this year by saying he would like to see an Asian as president of world football's governing body.

He also said he believed that all FIFA presidents should be limited to two terms. Before Blatter, Brazil's Joao Havelange led FIFA for 24 years.

His remarks led to tensions between Bin Hammam and Blatter, but by last month they had ironed out their differences and the two powerbrokers appeared together at the Soccerex Asia Forum in Singapore.

"Even with my own brother, the son of my father and mother, sometimes I have arguments and differences. Blatter is not going to be an exception," Bin Hammam said when asked about their disagreements.

"Even though there are differences sometimes, he is my good friend."

Bin Hammam also congratulated Blatter for his decision to take the World Cup to South Africa, a move many critics thought would backfire.

"I have to put on the record that Blatter’s bet on South Africa has paid off,” he said. “Much of the credit has to go to his personal efforts and determination.”

When the pair next appeared together, again in Singapore, for the launch of the Youth Olympic football tournament this month, it was Blatter's turn to lavish praise, saying Bin Hammam had changed the face of Asian football.

"In terms of administration and organization, AFC is really professional,” said Blatter. “From Vision Asia, the AFC Champions League to the development of referees, AFC are doing very well."

"This is all due to the hard work of my friend, AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam,” he added.

“He has made so much effort to take Asian football to new heights, and he has contributed so much to the rapid progress of Asian football."

Related Articles

• Draining delays
• Thang Long Imperial Citadel tells story of Hanoi
• Nadal faces tough road to US Open title
• Chau Doc’s curried fish vermicelli: Bun nuoc ken
• PM lauds police for keeping public order

FIFA dismiss North Korea witch hunt claims

North Korea's Jong Tae Se (R) and Portugal's Pedro Mendes head the ball during the 2010 World Cup group G match at Green Point stadium in Cape Town June 21, 2010

Photo: Reuters

FIFA has dismissed allegations that North Korea’s coach and players were punished for losing all three of their games at this year’s World Cup.

Asian media reported the side had been publicly shamed after returning from South Africa having conceded 12 goals in the first round. Soccer’s governing body FIFA insisted it was business as usual for North Korea and that no such witch hunt had taken place.

“The (North Korean) FA assures FIFA that Mr Kim Jong Hun, head coach of the national team, and all the other members of the national team are training as usual,” FIFA said in a statement.

“The association also indicates that there were no sanctions to the coach and that the reports on this matter were baseless.

“With all of the information at hand, and having checked all of sources, FIFA has decided to close the matter.”

North Korea lost 2-1 to Brazil, were humiliated 7-0 by Portugal and easily beaten 3-0 by Ivory Coast at the World Cup.

South Korean media claimed Kim and his team were forced onto a stage at the People’s Palace of Culture in front of 400 government officials, students and journalists.

Reports said the players were subjected to six hours of criticism for their performance at the World Cup, their first appearance since 1966.

Election fair

FIFA added that an election for the president of the North Korea FA was also considered to be within its rules.

“The (North Korean) FA clarified that the election of the president of the association held on June 19 was held in accordance with the statutes of the association and were not affected by any result of the team at the World Cup,” said FIFA.

“At the time of the election the team had only played one match against Brazil and had shown a good level of play.”

Related Articles

• Saigon-Hanoi charity caravan heads north
• Party reports come in from provinces
• A change of pace in Buon Don
• Banks scramble for mid-level managers
• Cashew traders yet to embrace trading center system