Illustrative immage (Photo: VNA)

Chairman of Sai Gon FC Tran Hoa Binh said Ryukyu has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Sai Gon FC.

Ryukyu, located in Okinawa Province, signed a similar deal with the Chinese Taipei Football Premier League for international exchange through football and co-operation between the two sides.

This year, Ryukyu decided to work with Sai Gon to combine to strengthen the development of Vietnamese football. Ryukyu will receive Vietnamese players introduced by Sai Gon to Japan to play in J2 League and carry out activities to contribute to the development of Vietnamese and Asian football.

Binh said this year, his club will send two Vietnamese players from Sai Gon to Ryuku and next year, four players are hoped to make the move.

He added that in the near future, his club would complete the construction of the Thanh Long Sports Centre as the club in a closed football complex.

According to Binh, the club wants to hold group stage of the AFC Cup 2021 in Ho Chi Minh City.

"We have contacted the Vietnam Football Federation to promote the application to host the AFC Cup 2021 qualifiers. We want HCM City fans to have a chance to see the AFC Cup matches at Thong Nhat Stadium,” said Binh.

Sai Gon are in Group H with Kedah (Malaysia), Lion City Sailors (Singapore) and the winner of the playoff between Persipura Jayapura of Indonesia and the winner of the preliminary playoff between Visakha FC of Cambodia and Lalenok United FC of Timor Leste at the AFC Cup 2021.

The AFC Cup 2021 group stage in Southeast Asia will take place on June 22 - 28, with as yet unreleased centralised locations.

As Vietnam has controlled the COVID-19 pandemic very well, Sai Gon are confident they will meet all the conditions of the Asian Football Federation to allow Group H to be played in HCM City./. VNS