VietNamNet Bridge – PetroVietnam volleyball team have signed Vietnamese setter Luu Dinh Toan on a record contract with a transfer fee of US$72,000, a source told Viet Nam News yesterday, March 28.
It's the highest transfer fee for a Vietnamese volleyballer in the domestic championship.


Last month, lower First Division Duc Long-Gia Lai set a milestone when they paid $61,400 to entice Nguyen Huu Ha from Ninh Binh for five years.


The source said the Ha Noi-based team targeted to finish in the top three in the National Volleyball Championship, which kicks off in Thai Nguyen and Ha Noi next week.


Toan, who played for Golden Star-Border Guard team last year, will team up with Le Binh Giang, Tran Van Giap, Nguyen Van Hoa and Thien Vu.


Earlier, the Hanoian team recruited former national team coach Nguyen Manh Hung to guide the team this year.

PetroVietnam will debut their two newly contracted Chinese players Shan Quing Tao and Wang Shen next Friday.


Last year, Petro Viet Nam spent $120,000 to get signatures from Long An-born attackers Thien Vu and Vinh Phuc Public Security's Giap.


The championship has drawn around 20 foreign players from Thailand, Russia and China.


This is the seventh year the Volleyball Federation of Viet Nam has allowed teams to sign two foreign players, though only one is allowed on court at a time.

Volleyball joined football in becoming a professional sport five years ago.


VietNamNet/Viet Nam News