Vietnam misses chance to play at Asian futsal champs

The Vietnamese futsal was narrowly defeated 3-4 by Australia in the Asian Futsal qualifiers for the Southeast Asian region on February 26.

Australia had a very good start scoring four goals in 35 minutes. Vietnam then counter-attacked and got three goals, with one penalty by Trong Thien and a double by Trong Toan.

The team had been full of hope for a third-position ticket after taking the lead in group B with a 4-0 win against Malaysia, 7-1 win against Cambodia and a 2-2 draw with Australia to avoid Thailand, the strongest opponent and winner of group A.

However, at the semi-final match it also lost 1-2 to Indonesia.

In the final match Thailand thrashed Indonesia 5-2 to top the qualifier.

The Vietnam team is scheduled to compete at the ASEAN Futsal Championship in Thailand from April 17-24.

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New club Saigon FC climbs to second

Saigon FC’s Huynh Kesley Alves (R) celebrates his opener with Antonio Carlos in a match against Da Nang at Thong Nhat Stadium Sunday.

Saigon FC climbed one position to second in the country’s top-flight Super League after a 2-1 fifth round home win over Da Nang at Thong Nhat Stadium Sunday.

Le Huynh Duc, the coach of 2009 champions Da Nang, who won the “month’s best coach” title last month, badly wanted a win on the trip to his hometown Ho Chi Minh City.

However, the hosts with two draws and two wins from the first four rounds of the season were in high spirits and had better control of the match with two goals in the first half.

The visitors from Da Nang City came alive after the break but all they could do was pull back only one goal.

In other action, the Mekong Delta side Dong Thap earned a 3-1 home win over Navibank Saigon at Cao Lanh Stadium while hosts Khanh Hoa beat visitors Kien Giang 1-0 at Nha Trang Stadium.

In early matches on Saturday, 2010 champs Hanoi T&T beat Thanh Hoa 3-2 at Hang Day Stadium to retain their first-place position while 2003-04 champs Hoang Anh Gia Lai defeated Hanoi FC 2-1 at Pleiku Stadium.

Ninh Binh beat Hai Phong 2-0 at home and then Binh Duong, the 2007-08 champs, fought to a goalless tie with reigning champs Song Lam Nghe An at Go Dau Stadium.

With only two draws from the five rounds, Hai Phong is now at the bottom of the 14-club league with just two points.

By Thanh Nien News

Vietnam company begins work on $40-mln airport project in Laos

Work has begun on the first of two airports Vietnam’s Hoang Gia Lai Joint Stock Co. (HAGL) plans to build in Laos, with a total investment of US$40 million, VnExpress reported Monday.

HAGL Chairman Doan Nguyen Duc was quoted as saying that the airport, which will cover 200 hectares of Attapeu Province in southern Laos, is expected to be operational by June 2013.

Between 2013 and 2020 it will be used mainly for small airplanes that travel short distances, like the ATR 72 and Fokker 70, Duc said.

However, by the time construction finishes in 2020, the airport will be capable of handling bigger airplanes like the Airbus A320, he added.

According to Duc, the Lao government also licensed HAGL to build another airport in Huaphanh Province in northern Laos; construction on the second airport will start next year, VnExpress reported.

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Athletes to compete in 2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Champs

Four Vietnamese athletes will take part in the 2012 Asian Indoor Athletics Champs, to be held in Hangzhou, China, from February 16-19.

Duong Thi Viet Anh

The team coached by Duong Duc Thuy includes Duong Thi Viet Anh (high jump), Tran Hue Hoa (triple jump), Nguyen Thi Phuong (3,000m run) and Nguyen Thi Thuy (400m run). The team’s medal hopes are mostly on Duong Viet Anh, who has made good progress recently.

Top sprinter Truong Thanh Hang will not join the event because she is preparing for the Asian All Stars Athletics Meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan in June to collect points for a berth at the 2012 London Olympics this summer.

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VN Super League seeks new name

HCM CITY — Viet Nam's top flight football championships will have to amend its new name to reflect the championships' origin, according to the National Administration of Sports and Physical Training.

The league goes into the this season with its new name of Super League Eximbank 2012 as a result of negotiations between the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) and clubs.

The Viet Nam Professional Football (VPF) company was also established to manage the competition.

However, the administration said that the name did not reflect the origin of the championships.

"The name of the national football championships must be in Vietnamese and the abbreviation must have the letter V and the name of the sponsor, such as V-League Eximbank 2012," the department said in a document sent to the VFF.

The adminstration also asked the VFF and the VPF to coordinate and run the football championships, including improving the quality of referees and eliminating dirty play.

Fourth round

Second-placed Ha Noi T&T have a good chance to go to the top of the Super League this weekend when they take on Kien Giang on home soil, as the leader SHB Da Nang will have a tough game.

The full points are within Ha Noi-based team's reach considering their home advantage and quality over the visitors, who is one of the contenders for relegation, in the game tomorrow.

Meanwhile, SHB Da Nang, who are leading the table courtesy of a superior goal difference over Ha Noi T&T, will face their first real challenge under the name of defending champions and third-placed Song Lam Nghe An.

This is even more interesting as the game is a mental game between two of the most talented young coaches, who are the first generation of footballers when the country integrated into the regional football.

Another noticeable game is that between two hungry-looking sides, Becamex Binh Duong and Ha Noi FC, who are both on the second half of the table with only three points.

Home team Binh Duong are favourites to win full points and improve their ranking as Ha Noi will extend their poor run.

Dong Thap and Khanh Hoa will fight in the fourth game tomorrow to climb up on the table.

Three games today are Hoang Anh Gia Lai vs Navibank Sai Gon; Ninh Binh vs Thanh Hoa; and Sai Gon FC vs Hai Phong.

vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Premier League trophy to visit Vietnam

The 19th English Premier League cup won by Manchester United will tour parts of Asia this year.

The cup will arrive in Vietnam in April, accompanied by former United goalkeeper Van der Sar.

During the four-month tour, the cup will travel almost 80,000km through 27 countries, including Japan, India and Vietnam.

The tour will kick off in the Indian capital Delhi on Saturday, and will be accompanied by United legends Denis Irwin and Quinton Fortune, Bryan Robson and Gary Bailey.

"The 19th league title was a special moment for everyone in the Manchester United family and the DHL Champions Trophy Tour is our way of being able to share that historic achievement with our 333 million fans," the club's commercial director Richard Arnold said on its official website.

Last year, Vietnamese football fans descended on Hung Vuong Parkson commercial centre to see the Football Association of England Cup (the FA Cup) escorted by former Liverpool defender Steve Mc Mahon.

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Ha Noi club taste first win in Super League season

Breaking a drought: Xuan Luan of Ha Noi FC (right) vies for the ball against Huu Phat of Khanh Hoa in their Super League clash at Ha Noi's Hang Day Stadium. Ha Noi won 4-1. – VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Truong

Nigerian striker Anjembe Timothy scored twice from the penalty spot and Dinh Thanh Trung added two more goals to help Ha Noi FC crush Khanh Hoa 4-1 in the Super League on Saturday.

It's the first win for the Hanoian team since the season kicked off two weeks ago.

The team also had the services of top striker Le Cong Vinh who played an important part in the second goal before a two week break for Tet.

Hosting the match at Hang Day Stadium, Ha Noi FC's offensive play encountered a deep and crowded Khanh Hoa defence who frustrated the home team's strikers.

Ha Noi failed to make any serious threat on the Khanh Hoa goal until the 41st minute when Timothy netted from a spot kick.

The goal helped break the deadlock and they added one more before half time.

Newly contracted striker Vinh, who has recently recovered from a knee injury, set up teammate Trung just before the break.

Vinh missed a great opportunity to make it 3-0 in the first minute of the second half, heading Pham Thanh Luong's cross over the bar.

In the 62nd minute, Brazilian Agostinho pulled a goal back for Khanh Hoa with a powerful header.

Ha Noi intentionally slowed the pace of the game with the visitors looking for an equaliser.

But any chances of a comeback were snuffed out by Timothy who successfully dispatched his second penalty of the game in the 80th minute before Trung launched a rocket into the back of the net in the 82nd minute.

Khanh Hoa missed a chance for a consolation in the last minute of the game with Majabvi missing from the spot.

In other games on Saturday, Da Nang demolished Hoang Anh Gia Lai 4-1, while Thanh Hoa edged Binh Duong 2-1.

Sai Gon FC recorded their first victory of the campaign with a 2-0 way win over Kien Giang.

In yesterday's matches, Hai Phong were held to a 1-1 draw by Dong Thap; Song Lam Nghe An drew with Ha Noi T&T 2-2 and Navibank Sai Gon lost 2-1 to Ninh Binh.

vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Prime Minister directs to help settle dispute on TV broadcast rights

HA NOI -- Prime Minister (PM) Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday provided direction to help settle disputes about television broadcast rights to timely reserve spectators' demand via television.

PM Dung asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to resolve the conflict so as to live up to the spectators' expectations and then report to the Government.

The Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) signed a contract with the Audio Visual Global Company (AVG) from 2011-30 and recently released an official document stating that AVG has all broadcasting rights for the national football championship (Super League).

Meanwhile, the Viet Nam Professional Football JSC (VPF) said that the exclusive broadcast rights contract between the VFF and the AVG was illegal and television stations should be allowed to broadcast live the tournament's matches.

The VPF and organising board are required to respect that broadcasting rights now belong to the AVG, which means television stations can only broadcast matches with AVG permission.

During investigations, the Government leader allowed television stations to broadcast all matches under the management of the VPF.

After receiving PM Dung's direction, AVG sent a press release to affirm that it would strictly obey the PM's direction. -- VNS

vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Ministry to probe broadcast rights

Rules of the game: Cameramen film a football match at Ha Noi's My Dinh National Stadium. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced an investigation into exclusive broadcasting rights contracts between the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) and the Audio Vision Global Co (AVG). — VNA/VNS Photo Quang Thang

HA NOI — The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism promulgated an official document on Monday, announcing the inspection of an exclusive broadcasting contracts between the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) and the Audio Vision Global Company (AVG).

The deadline for inspection is 15 days from Monday. In the interim, related companies must respect the signed contract.

The VFF signed a contract with the AVG from 2011-30 and recently released an official document stating that AVG has all broadcasting rights for national football tournaments.

The VFF's document stated that the VFF previously handed all rights, including broadcasting rights, to the Viet Nam Professional Football Company (VPF) who was to manage VFF contracts.

The VPF and organising board are required to respect that broadcasting rights now belong to the AVG, which means television stations can only broadcast matches with AVG permission.

However, there has been on-going conflict between the AVG and the VPF as to what exactly happened.

Last week, the VPF sent an official document to the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry ofInformation and Communication; and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to request verification of the legality of the contract between VFF and AVG. Right after that, AVG also sent an official document to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for inspection.

"At present, the AVG has no comment. We will wait for the conclusion of appropriate authorities," said AVG's chairman Pham Nhat Vu. — VNS

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