V-League season promises drama, greater professionalism

Game on: Le Tan Tai of Khanh Hoa (left) tries to get past Tran Tuan Anh of HCM City team in their V-League match last year. Khanh Hoa meet Hai Phong team in their V-League opener away today. — VNA/VNS Photo Quang Nhut

The new season of the national football championship, V-League, begins this weekend. It is the first time all clubs are now operating as official businesses. It also marks the biggest-ever prize money for the victory team as well as a TV broadcast deal with a private company. Viet Nam News spoke to Le Hung Dung, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF), about the new season, the use of sponsorship money and the plans to improve the quality of V-League and make it more professional.

The new V-League football season will begin today. The tournament definitely has new features compared to the 2010 season. Could you tell us what they are?

This is the first season all 14 participating clubs are recognised as businesses, according to regulations of the FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Besides that, this year's V-League also has other new features. The quality will improve because of the bigger prize money, which is strong motivation for clubs to play their best. I think there will be many aggressive matches.

There are also more matches to be broadcast live than in previous seasons and this will help further enhance the brand and image of the V-League.

Are there any changes in the regulation of the number of foreign players on the pitch at one time?

National football championship kicks off with Ha Noi derby The new season of the 2011 national football championship, Eximbank V-League 2011, will start this weekend with seven matches across the country. Some notable first-round matches include defending champions Ha Noi T&T vs Hoa Phat Ha Noi, Becamex Binh Duong vs Ninh Binh, SHB Da Nang vs Hoang Anh Gia Lai. The champions will receive a total of VND3 billion ($150,000), thrice higher than that of 2010. The runners-up pocket VND1.5 billion ($75,000) and the third team gets VND750 million ($37,500). In addition, the organisers will also award a fair play prize of VND200 million ($10,000), and a prize of VND20 million ($1,000) for the best coach of the season. The best scorer also pockets VND20 million ($1,000), the best fan club, VND20 million ($1,000), and the best team of the month, VND30 million ($1,500).

This year, the federation will apply the 4-3 rule. Each club will be allowed to register four foreign players on the team list and they are allowed to field a maximum of three on the pitch at once instead of last year's 5-3 rule.

I support the use of foreign players in the V-League. Not only is it an inevitable trend but it also brings benefit to Viet Nam football.

Foreign players help improve the quality of local players, which, in turn, contributed to the increasingly improved quality of the national team. The evidence is that Viet Nam are playing well in recent years.

The team no longer fears taller opponents and can even play with many strong teams from the Middle East on an equal footing. We have the disadvantages of size and physical strength as well as a poor training facility.

I think that V-League is the best foundation for the national team. However, we limit the number of foreign players playing on the pitch for the sake of the national team. I support players of Vietnamese origin like American player Lee Nguyen The Anh, who could receive Vietnamese nationality and play for the national team.

Does VFF has any policy to encourage clubs to give talented young players more opportunities to play in order to create sources for the Olympic team in the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia this year?

VFF will create a legal framework to encourage and allow clubs to do that but it is the owners and coaches who have the right to field the players on the pitch. The federation does not have the right to tell clubs which players they should field.

The Viet Nam Export Import Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Viet Nam Eximbank) decided to sponsor V-League for three successive seasons, with the sponsorship value of VND90 billion (US$4.5 million). How will VFF use the money to make the V-League better?

I need to make it clear that Viet Nam Eximbank will sponsor V-League three successive seasons, with sponsorship value of the next season being higher than the previous season by 10 per cent. So the total sponsorship value of all three seasons would be VND100 billion ($5 million).

After every season, Viet Nam Eximbank and VFF will sit down and talk about how VFF used the money and what Viet Nam Eximbank gained from this sponsorship.

The sponsorship deal will be stopped if it does not bring the desired effect in terms of the promotion to the bank and if the quality of V-League declines.

The federation will have plans to use the money it gets from V-League. I am responsible for financial issues of the federation, so I will ask the general secretary and related divisions to carefully use the money to ensure that it is used efficiently and for good purposes. — VNS

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Ethnology museum celebrates Tet with diverse programme

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology will hold its annual Tet (Lunar New
Year) celebrations on February 6-8, with music, food and games – and the
participation of 90 representatives from six ethnic groups from around
the country.

The Raglai from the central province of
Ninh Thuan and the Dao Lo Gang and Na Mieo from the northern province
of Lang Son will be participating in the holiday programme for the
first time.

Traditional performances will include gong
ceremonies of the Raglai, prayers for peace and good crops by the Na
Mieo, Tay and Dao Lo Gang, the lion dance of the Nung, and the bamboo
pole dance of the Thai, as well as calligraphy, water puppetry of the
Kinh majority.

Kids will be able to join in a variety of
folk games, including swinging, wrestling, walking on stilts, chess
playing and stick pushing. They also be able to make their own folk toys
under the instruction of ethnic people, including making figurines and
pinwheels.

This year, visitors will be able to enjoy
traditional food from the Tay ethnic group, such as roast pig with mac
mat (a type of wild leaf), steamed glutinous rice, dried buffalo meat
and traditional cakes.

About 150 student volunteers will join museum staff in helping visitors enjoy the events.

The events would help preserve and popularise the precious cultural
traditions of Vietnam , said museum director Vo Quang Trong.

Visitors would gain a better understanding of the cultures of the
different ethnic groups, as well as join in the spirit of the
festivities, Trong said./.

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Backstreet Boys set to perform in Viet Nam

The male pop group Backstreet Boys (BSB) will perform in Vietnam in March, following their tour to Latin America .

The American band said on its website that it expected a total of
55,000 concert attendees in HCM City on March 24 and 26 in Ha Noi.

According to organisers, the show is the same as the one performed on other stops during the band's worldwide tour.

"BSB has a very strong and loyal fan base here in Vietnam . You can
sense the excitement about their impending arrival. Water Buffalo
Productions (WBP) strives to produce the highest standards and know that
the BSB shows will amazing and memorable," says Stephen Bures, the
Deputy General Director of the WBP.

"We haven't had a band
perform a show of such magnitude in Vietnam , and the WBP is making
sure that this show will be on par with any international performance."

The four members of the group, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian
Littrell and A. J. McLean, will perform at Military Zone 7's Stadium in
HCM City and My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi .

They will sing their hits I Want It That Way, I'll Never Break Your
Heart, Straight Through My Heart and others from their This Is Us album.

The performance is part of the tour This Is Us that began
in fall 2009 and will continue to the end of this year. They have had
20 shows thus far.

This concert tour is the first to feature dancers since the band's 2001 Black and Blue world tour.

After the show in Vietnam , the group will return to the US to
begin a tour with the 1980s-leading band New Kids on the Block.

The vocal group Backstreet Boys was formed in Orlando , Florida in
1993. The band originally consisted of five members, A. J. McLean,
Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson.

They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys
in 1996. In the following year, they released their second
international album, Backstreet's Back.

The men rose to
superstardom with their album Millennium in 1999, with more than nine
million sales. The number rose to 13 million in March 2001./.

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Minh enters Malaysia Open quarter-finals

Vietnamese world No 8 Nguyen Tien Minh easily overcame Kazushi Yamada of Japan yesterday at the Proton Malaysia Open Super Series in Kuala Lumpur.

Minh dispatched Yamada in 48 minutes, beating the unseeded player, 21-18, 21-18.

His next rival will be the winner of the match between world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Hong Kong's Yun Hu, who played late yesterday.

The Malaysia Open has lured many top world top players, who are vying for this year's prize of $400,000.

At the previous Malaysian Open Minh was knocked out in the semi-final round by Lee, who then went on to take the men's singles title.

Viet Nam's baseball team set for Little League tourney in Guam

Viet Nam's baseball team will take part in the Little League Junior Division Series in Guam in July.

Viet Nam, who triumphed 13-8 in the Viet Nam Baseball Classic final against Indonesia, will represent the Asia-Pacific region at the world competition.

Later, Viet Nam will host the Little League Asia Pacific Championships Junior Division for under-14 players.

This under-14 tournament will be held at Nha Trang beach, Khanh Hoa Province, in July.

It is expected that nine teams will compete and the winner will earn a berth in the world series in the US in August. — VNS

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An elegant symbol of Vietnamese culture

The image of the Ao dai (Vietnam’s traditional long dress) is often
associated with images of the country and is a beautiful symbol of
Vietnamese culture.

Bich Hue Boivineau, wife of the
French Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, shared her feelings on
Vietnam’s traditional long dress, on the eve of the first ever
“non-border Ao dai festival” scheduled to be held in Ho Chi Minh City on
January 21.

She said that she and her husband and
two children agreed to take part in the festival because it is a
charitable cultural event that aims to raise funds for 70 poor
households in Phong Dien district in the central province of Thua
Thien-Hue. The funds will also be used to buy a boat for pupils in Quang
Trach district in the central province of Quang Binh to go to school.

“One interesting thing when we wear the Ao dai is
that it highlights the strong points and hides the weak points of our
body,” she said, adding that women in Ao dai look graceful, shapely and
elegant.

She said she owned a big collection of Vietnam’s traditional long dresses and wears them on both festive and normal days.

When presenting the Ao dai to international friends, we will take a
variety of dresses to portray the non-borders characteristic of the
Vietnamese traditional dress, Bich Hue Boivineau noted.

The festival, organised by the Vietnam Long Dress Association, will
draw the participation of representatives from the consulate generals of
ten countries, including the US, France, Russia, Germany, Cuba, Japan,
the Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia and Laos as well as five foreign
organisations and businesses operating in Vietnam./.

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$3,500 compensation for lightning-hit footballer

Referee (R) and players of Nguyen Hoang Kien Giang and Vinh Long react after the lightning when the match is going on on May 2, 2008 on Vinh Long Stadium

Former Second Division footballer Tran Thanh Truong, who was struck by lightning while playing a match in 2008 and has become partially paralyzed, will get a compensation of just VND69 million (US$3,450), authorities announced yesterday.

The 29-year-old has been paid $2,000 by the Kien Giang Province Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the remaining $1,450 will be paid by the football association, the Department’s vice director Vo Dong Lap said Wednesday.

However, Truong did not get his salary for the period left in his contract or insurance after the accident that took place in May 2008 when his team, Nguyen Hoang Kien Giang, were playing Vinh Long.

After being hit by a bolt, he became unconscious and his heart stopped briefly. Doctors diagnosed him with brain damage and partial paralysis and loss of speech.

Circular 34/2007 stipulates that the government should cover treatment costs through social and medical insurance if a sportsperson is injured during training or competition.

Besides, the victim should also be paid full salary during the period of treatment.

 

Tran Thanh Truong of Nguyen Hoang Kien Giang and Du Thien Chuong of Vinh Long FC are given medical support on Vinh Long Stadium on May 2, 2008 after being struck by lightning

His labor contract with Nguyen Hoang Kien Giang had five months to run after the accident but he did not get his wages.

His mother had to feed him for almost two years until he got better but he continues to live off his family’s savings and donations from colleagues and sponsors.

Now, he can walk by himself but has almost lost his memory that he is again learning from text books meant for six-year-old children.

Du Thien Chuong of Vinh Long FC was also injured in the lightning strike but he has fully recovered.

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Football stars score off the field

Moonlighting: National team goalie Bui Tan Truong (top) and his teammate Le Cong Vinh at a training session in Ha Noi. Both players have undertaken successful business ventures off the field. — VNS Photos Quang Thang

HCM CITY — Well-paid local football stars are increasingly looking to the investment sector as a way of supplementing their incomes.

The most recent sports star to go into business is national Olympic team's goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong, who received VND5 billion (US$250,000) for an extended three-year contract with V-League football club Dong Thap last year.

Truong, who is also a senior national team keeper, invested more than VND 1billion in a joint complex of six artificial-turf pitches with Nguyen Ngoc Anh Tu, who works for a military company.

The complex called Sai Gon Football Club K2 is on Tran Van Du Street, Tan Binh District and has six pitches for five-person games. Each pitch has 12 lights.

"Truong is a good player and a well-behaved person. So I decided to ask him to join me in this complex, which is worth about VND4 billion ($200,000)," Tu said, adding that he will open a sports shop in the facility.

"I am a player, so opening mini-artificial turf business is something I am familiar with," said Truong, who also is investing his money to open an internet shop for his wife and buy a 16-seat Mercedes-Benz car for his brother.

"I am sometimes away to play football and Tu will manage the business. We believe in each other. After one week of operation, I feel optimistic about our success," he said.

Although the complex has only been open for a week during pre-Lunar New Year holidays, not a prime time for his target customers, many youth visited the complex yesterday evening.

Truong is not the first football star to use his earnings in this way.

Le Huynh Duc, national team's former striker and now coach of former V-League champion, SHB Da Nang, has sports shops in HCM City and Da Nang.

However, star striker Le Cong Vinh, who once opened a restaurant in Vinh Yen city of Vinh Phuc Province with Ha Noi T&T teammate Duong Hong Son, said many players did not have enough time to devote to management.

But he also pointed that managing an artificial grass-turf business was not as difficult or time-consuming.

Last year, the National Olympic team player Pham Thanh Luong opened a cafe named Diva in Ha Noi while the national team striker Nguyen Anh Duc did the same with a chain of shops that sells sports equipment in Binh Duong Province and HCM City. — VNS

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