Football: Arsenal set for Vietnam friendly

Arsenal to play games in Vietnam.

HANOI: Arsenal is set to become the first English Premier League club to play a friendly match in Vietnam with a game in July during a pre-season tour of Asia, said an official yesterday.

Arsenal executives are currently in Hanoi meeting officials from the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to negotiate a fixture against the national team, VFF spokesman Nguyen Lan Trung told AFP.

“The VFF and Arsenal Club have agreed to organise a friendly match at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on July 17,” said Trung, adding that no formal deal had yet been signed.

VFF said the match would be partly sponsored by Hoang Anh-Gia Lai — one of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerates which owns an eponymous team in the domestic V-league and runs a football academy in the Central Highlands.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2013.