National sport events wait for gov’t approval to restart in June

Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam Sports Administration (VSA) plans to kick off national tournaments after about a four-month hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, pending the government’s approval.

As per the schedule, Vietnamese athletes were to compete in more than 110 local and international events in the first six months of 2020, while 19 national teams would take part in training courses. However, all have been cancelled or delayed.

The VSA is waiting for the government’s permission to restart sport activities, said Tran Duc Phan, Deputy General Director of VSA.

“We have prepared for tournaments, and if approved, we will organise the most important ones including national championships and national junior championships. The other ones might be cancelled. It is impossible to hold all tournaments of the year in the last six months,” he said.

Football might be the first to restart as the Vietnam Professional Football Company (VPF) and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) expect matches of the National Cup could begin on May 15.

“The VPF plans the return of football on May 15, but it is just on paper as the Government has not agreed yet. If it does, matches opening for supporters or not is also an issue which needs permission of the authorities,” said VFF Vice President Tran Quoc Tuan.

If tournaments are allowed from June, the VFF has enough time to organise all events for both seniors and juniors, he said.

After football, the national marathon event, the Tien Phong Newspaper Marathon, will be the second event to be organised.

The competition, which has been delayed twice, is planned on July 4 on Ly Son Island in central Quang Ngai province.

Meanwhile Phan Tuan, head of the Table Tennis Department under the VSA, said his athletes can’t wait to compete at the national tournaments which will be a warm-up event for the international ones where they seek berths available for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021./.