VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Football Federation’s (AFF) Secretary General Tran Quoc Tuan has been elected to the Asian Football Federation (AFC) Executive Board. On this occasion, Tuan talked with a local newspaper about the position of Vietnam’s football in Asia.

 

Could you tell our readers about the election procedures to the AFC Executive Board?

 

AFC includes 46 members, divided into four regions: East Asia, West Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. Each region has three representatives in the AFC Executive Board. At the recent meeting in Doha (Qatar), Vietnam was one of the five candidates for the AFC Executive Board in the 2011-2015 tenure. I won the election with 30/45 ballots and became the representative of Southeast Asia together with the Secretary General of the Singaporean Football Federation – Lee Winston – and the Chair of the Myanmar Football Federation Zaw Zaw.

 

What is the meaning of your success in the poll to Vietnam’s football?

 

This is an honor not only for me personally but for Vietnam’s football in general. This is the first time since Vietnam joined the AFC it has a representative in AFC Executive Board. It proves that Vietnam is making significant contribution to the development of football in Southeast Asia and in Asia and the contribution is recognized by the AFC.

 

Vietnam’s football now holds an important position in the region and the continent. Many countries only attach importance to the national teams and neglect friendship tournaments. Vietnam has fully participated in football tournaments for young players and women and won encouraging achievements.

 

The Vietnamese national squad also made an imprint with the AFF Cup 2008 championship, entering the final qualifier round of the Olympic Beijing and the final round of the Asian Cup 2007. Vietnam is also one of the top football teams in Southeast Asia.

 

The ASEAN Football Federation and the AFC assigned Vietnam to host the final rounds of the AFF Cup 1998, 2004, 2010, Asian Cup 2007 (for men) and 2008 (for women) and Southeast Asian young football championships like U16, U17 and U19.

 

How will Vietnam’s football benefit from having its representative in the AFC Executive Board?

 

AFC is the organization that makes the development plan for football in Asia. Joining AFC Executive Board, Vietnam will have many opportunities to develop its football.

 

Singapore is also a member of the AFC Executive Board but their football has suffered a huge setback. They have dissolved the national squad. What do you think about this?

 

It is normal to see a national squad not convene after a major tournament. It is also normal for Singapore to change the personnel. Singapore doesn’t dissolve its national football squad but they are performing a deep reform, though it is quite late.

 

I talked with Mr. Lee Winston (Secretar General of the Singaporean Football Federation) and know that Singapore is not building a completely new team. They will still keep some pillar players and the chief coach Abramovic. Like Vietnam, we are thinking about a new generation of players as the generation of Minh Phuong and Tai Em is getting older. I hope that V-League 2011 will discover new faces for the national team.

 

Why don’t you work as the chief organizer of the V-League?

 

Like in a company, the general director can’t be in charge of finance. The chief accountant does that job for him. VFF is strongly decentralizing to improve its management. I will be very busy with foreign relations as the member of the AFC Executive Board so Mr. Duong Nghiep Khoi (VFF Vice Secretary General) will be V-League chief organizer.

 

PV