Local club build Laos football league

Hoang Anh Gia Lai chairman Doan Nguyen Duc

Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAGL) which owns a football club of the same name has said it would help Laos develop its first professional football championship league.

HAGL’s chairman Doan Nguyen Duc said the proposal was still waiting for the approval of the Laotian Football Federation.

If the idea is approved, it won’t be the first time HAGL will have invested in Laotian football, Duc said. In 2009, Duc also sponsored Laos’ football team to train for nearly a year before SEA Games.

Duc said HAGL was yet to decide the exact amount of investment and the company would set up his own team, Hoang Anh Attapeu, in Attapeu, a province in Laos where HAGL is investing, as well as send over Vietnamese coaches.

Duc said he didn’t have much ambition about Laotian football, which only has a semi-professional football league, and was simply trying to market his company’s name to the public through football.

“For instance, 10 years ago, few knew about HAGL. But now, a lot more people have heard about us,” Duc said.

According to Duc, Laos and Vietnam are very closed so when Laotian football achieves, it is good for Vietnamese football and vice versa.

For example, at SEA Games 2009, the stadium in Vientiane was flooded with Vietnam’s national flags.

Football is a healthy competitive sport, Duc said. “If Laotian football improves, Vietnam will also have to set its target higher.”