VietNamNet Bridge – V-League club Song Lam Nghe An plan to open a football academy as part of an ongoing project with the assistance of the English Premier League's Liverpool FC next year, announced the team chairman Nguyen Hong Thanh yesterday, Dec 29.

The coastal district of Nghi Loc has been earmarked for the project, near the beach town of Cua Lo – 25km from Vinh City in the central province of Nghe An.

"We have finalised procedures to begin construction next year. The academy will be aimed at developing international standard players not only for Viet Nam, but for the whole of Southeast Asia," Thanh told Viet Nam News yesterday.

"The academy will recruit talented kids from across the country from the age of nine," Thanh said.

It will be Viet Nam's second such facility in co-operation with a Premier League club. Three years ago, Hoang Anh Gia Lai also built an academy in a US$4million project with Arsenal.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News