BTV Cup draws world interest

The Viet Nam Football Federation will hold an international club tournament on October 6-15 at Go Dau Stadium, home venue of V-League side Becamex Binh Duong.

The BTV Cup 2011 will feature East Bengal FC from India, Sociedade Esportiva Matsubara FC from Brazil, Villa SC from Uganda and MSK Zilina FC from Slovakia, some of the top teams from their respective countries.

Hosts Becamex Binh Duong will be in Group A alongside Hai Phong, MSK Zilina and Villa SC, while Sai Gon Xuan Thanh, SHB Da Nang, East Bengal and Matsubara have been drawn in Group B.

Liem to compete in SPICE Cup          

Participants will include Grand Masters L.Dominguez of Cuba, A.Onischuk of the US, G.Meier of Germany, Yury Shulman of the US, Ray Robson of the US and Liem.

In an interview with chessdom.com, the two-time Aeroflot champion said: "I think it is a nice field, a mix of experience and the youth. It is hard to expect too much playing in this tournament for the first time."

"Obviously it won't be easy. I will just focus on my preparation and try to give my best in every game. I hope I will play interesting chess and get good results."

After the SPICE Cup, Liem is going to join the Vietnamese team for the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia in November. In December he will play the SportAccord Mind Games in China.

Vovinam champs for Cambodia

The Southeast Asian Vovinam (Vietnamese martial art) Championship, a pre-Southeast Asian Games event, will be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on October 13-15.

The tournament will attract the participation of teams from Viet Nam, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Participants will compete for 20 sets of medals in both the combat and performance events.

The three-day event is being co-organised by the Southeast Asian Vovinam Federation and the Cambodia Olympics Committee.

Clubs have their say on boards

General secretary of the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) Tran Quoc Tuan and deputy chairman Pham Ngoc Vien are the front runners to head up the V-League organising and refereeing boards in 2012.

The predictions come following a questionnaire which the VFF recently sent to all 28 football clubs from the V-League and First Division.

Of the 26 questionnaires the VFF collected, Tuan received 11 votes to head the organising board, including four from V-League clubs and seven from the First Division.

The three other nominees for the post are deputy chairmen of the VFF, Nguyen Huu Bang and Duong Nghiep Khoi, and a member of the VFF's executive board, Nguyen Nam Hung.

Meanwhile, Vien is favourite to head the V-League refereeing board with the approval of 11 clubs from the V-League and First Division.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News