Japan adds support to local game

Regional teammates: VFF chairman Le Hung Dung (right) presents a Viet Nam shirt to his Japanese counterpart Daini Kuniya during a ceremony held yesterday in Ha Noi. - VNS Photo Tuan Tu

HA NOI (VNS) – Vietnamese football is about to get another lift from Japan, which has the strongest football team in Asia.

At present, Toshiya Miura, the head coach of the Vietnamese national men’s team, and Tanaka Koji, head of the V-League organising committee, are Japanese.

Yesterday, the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) and the Japan Football Association (JFA) agreed to share and exchange players and experts to promote the game.

Other helpful measures will include training camps and friendly matches for national teams, the use of top coaches for national teams; and training tours for coaches and officials.

The two sides also hope to exchange ways of managing and governing local tournaments and facilities as well as legal matters relating to football.

The two nations will also share knowledge of sports medicine, rehabilitation, and training.

“Viet Nam has relationships with different countries and organisations in football, but this is the first agreement at the national level,” said VFF chairman Le Hung Dung.

Dung said the Japanese had long term plans for football development based on advanced technology and sciences. He said this would definitely help Viet Nam which had been struggling to find a suitable programme.

JFA President Daini Kuniya said Viet Nam was a special venue that had witnessed the triumph of the men’s futsal team and the women’s football squad in the Asian Championships in May.

He said he was impressed by Viet Nam’s football and saw its potential since he was a player. He added that the two countries had co-operated for years and now become great partners.

The training link will last for two years and then be extended for another two years.

At the conference yesterday, both sides announced they had found a suitable coach for the national women’s team and would reveal the name in a few weeks. – VNS

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