VietNamNet Bridge – Coach Le Cong and his assistants have been replaced by an Iranian coach and young assistants.

Coach Le Cong and his students. Photo: Tien Phong.

Cong and his familiar assistants are not named as members of the national karate team preparing for 2014 Asian Games.

Cong and his assistants are replaced by an Iranian coach, who is paid $4,000 per month, along with some young coaches.

It is a surprise because Cong is a senior coach who has trained the national karate team for 13 years.

Mr. Vu Son Ha, who is in charge of karate sports of the Vietnam Sports and Physical Training Administration, explained why the Iranian coach was selected: "He is a good coach, who led the Iranian national team and in the past five years, Iran led Asia in karate."

In addition, the International Karate Federation changes the competition rules towards preferring European-style fighting style also forces the team to change training methods. Many karate teams hired European and Iranian coaches (Iran has similar style with Europe) to deal with this change and reaped success.

Ha said the use of a foreign coach has long been planned to not only prepare for the 2014 Asian Games, but also the 2016 Asian Games in Vietnam. The team, therefore, has both veteran and young players.

Ha also denied the rumors that the team has not been stable since coach Le Cong left. The team was convened on February 15.

This year, $120,000 will be invested in the national karate team, particularly in overseas training courses.

Nguyen Dung