Vietnamese clubs are keen to follow the model for football development of Japan, according to Vo Quoc Thang, chairman of the Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) – a joint stock company under the management of the Vietnam Football Federation.

Vo Quoc Thang, chairman of the Vietnam Professional Football

He made the comment during a talk with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper yesterday, ahead of the VPF shareholders meeting to be held on December 27.
It is the result of the agreement signed two years ago by the VPF and the Japan Professional Football League Company for the exchange of information, management, running of professional football tournaments and training programs; as well as sharing experience in healthcare and marketing.
VPF is now in charge of organizing football leagues in Vietnam.
One valuable experience from Japanese clubs is that a club should never rely on the sponsorship of a single company, Thang said.
Two V-League clubs, Thanh Hoa and Song Lam Nghe An, may be the most excited to follow Japanese clubs by refusing to attach the brand of any sponsors to their names.
The league is the top-flight football competition in Vietnam, where the name of a football club is also the name of the locality it comes from, such as Dong Nai FC from Dong Nai Province in the south, and SHB Da Nang from Da Nang in the central region.
Thanks to the refusal to attach any sponsor brands to their names, Thanh Hoa and Song Lam Nghe An have the most loyal support from fans because they feel that the clubs belong to them, not the sponsors.
If fans feel that they have rights and responsibilities with their home club, they will give more enthusiastic support, Thang noted.
All clubs in the top three leagues in Japan – J-League 1, J-League 2, and J-League 3 – refuse to attach sponsor brands to their official names.
Club members such as footballers, coaches and other staff must respect fans by avoiding foul acts like taking off jerseys on the field or littering in the technical areas of the two competing teams at a stadium.
Violations such as match fixing and violence will be punished more strictly, including permanent suspension, Thang said.
The chairman also appreciated the comments of Toshiya Miura – the Japanese coach of the Vietnamese national squad – about the ‘amateur’ nature of working on time and food serving in Vietnam.
Miura recently told Japanese media that the V-League is a terrible competition while criticizing other drawbacks of Vietnamese football.

Source Tuoitre