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
