VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Professional Football Company (VPF) on December 29, confirmed its ownership of the broadcasting right of the V-League 2012, which is now called the Super League, in its dispatch signed by VPF Vice Chair Nguyen Duc Kien, to the national Vietnam Television Station (VTV).
VPF also allowed VTV and VTV’s subsidiaries to advertise, broadcast live and re-broadcast football matches of the four professional football tournaments in Vietnam, including: the Super League, the First Division Tournament, the National Cup and the Super-national Cup as of 2012. VPF also asked VTV to assist VTC and local television stations in airing these matches.

Earlier, VPF in the morning of December 28 sent a document to AVG Group, which signed a contract with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to hold the broadcasting right of the Super League and the First Division Tournament for 20 years, from 2010, to announce that the VFF had handed over the contract to VPF.

VPF wanted to negotiate with AVG on two issues: splitting the broadcasting right of tournaments that held by VPF from the contract and for these tournaments. VPF only wanted to sign a three-year contract worth at least VND10 billion ($500,000).

In a meeting between the two sides on the same afternoon, AVG Group stated that it did not accept that the VFF unilaterally transfers the contract to VPF. This group said it did not see VPF as it partner in this contract.

AVG confirmed that it only considered the change of this contract and negotiates with the VFF once the federation commits that it is still the holder of the broadcasting right of professional football tournaments in Vietnam, as being stipulated in VFF’s charters and in the contract signed between VFF and AVG.

AVG asked VFF and related sides (meaning VPF) to continue implement the signed contract until an agreement reached among related sides. Only after AVG and VFF agree with each other in written document on VPF’s reception of some rights and duties in the contract from VFF, AVG will begin negotiation with VPF.

“If VFF unilaterally negotiates and hands over the contract signed with AVG to VPF before having AVG’s written agreement, AVG will take necessary measures to defend its legal rights,” AVG stated.

Since its opening last month, the digital provider of TV channels in Vietnam, AVG, has yet developed its own channel to broadcast nationwide, so it still depends on other TV stations to air football matches, which is the king of sports in Vietnam.
In the current situation, major television channels such as VTV, HTV and VTC have had little patience in planning their broadcasting.

Things became even more complicated when VTC sports channel director Vu Quang Huy announced that he would prefer filming selected matches on the field, produce TV waves, and broadcast them on the company’s own instead of airing them on available waves produced by AVG.

Le Van Phu, chief of the sports department at HTV, has revealed that he may stop airing football games of the Super League as the channel did during the 2010 season, when the organization was still called the V-League.

Recently, it has been reported that AVG has drafted a three-choice plan for TV stations to buy, including TV waves with advertisements produced by AVG, ‘clean’ waves without ads produced by AVG, and ‘raw product’, that is matches that TV stations will produce themselves and air on their waves.

The draft plan seems to suit all of the demands made by the TV stations, but AVG has yet to publicly announce it as final, nor has it cited a reason for not doing so.

A source from the Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) company, a marketing and sales agent of the Vietnam Football Federation, revealed that the VPF will consult with AVG in order to make a final decision soon.

PV