Vietnamese karate artist Doan Bao Chau lost in a four-minute match with the martial artist Pierre Francois Flores from Canada as the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism were still seeking permission to hold the match.

The match was held on July 12 and quickly attracted attention when its clip was posted online. The two martial artists fought for two minutes before Chau started losing and was knocked out in four minutes.

Flores said he was impressed by the attitude as well as the bravery of Doan Bao Chau. He said he had the chance to talk with other martial artists accompanying Chau and was also impressed by their knowledge. He said admired the martial art community in Hanoi and is grateful for a memorial day.

Flores will stay in Hanoi for a few days and have more friendly matches. However, he hasn't disclosed the name of the next opponent. 

Flores came to Vietnam to have friendly matches with local martial artists. He and Chau agreed to have a personal exchange that didn't need the authorities' permission. 

However, the Department of Public Sport disagreed and said the match needed sets of rules and permit like a public sports event in case there were severe injuries.

Deputy head of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism To Van Dong said as there were no specific regulations for such cases, they had to ask for directives from the General Department of Sports. 

"We already sent the document to the General Department of Sports upon hearing the news. But the match was held before any directives were given to us. But to deal with this case is also difficult because we don't have specific rules," he said.

Dong said he would comment later after investigating to see where and how the match was held and whether tickets were sold.

Dang Danh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Sport said they were finding a solution based on the circular on regulations on organising sports events. 

"But this case is new so we won't be rigid," he said.

Dtinews