Two
female Vietnamese referees have been assigned by FIFA to officiate in the
preliminary round of the football for the London Olympics, the Viet Nam Football
Federation announced yesterday, Jan 24.

Mai Hoang Trang of HCM
City and assistant Kieu Thi Thuy of Ha Noi will be in charge of the women’s
qualifiers next year.

Trang and Thuy were
approved by FIFA in 2007.

Viet Nam has three
FIFA accredited female referees and two assistants.

Last year, FIFA also
called up four male referees, Vo Minh Tri, Phung Dinh Dung, Nguyen Ngoc Ha and
Nguyen Hoang Minh, to officiate over two men’s qualifiers.

The federation has
also submitted Vo Quang Vinh of Khanh Hoa and Hoang Anh Tuan from Ha Noi to FIFA
for approval this year.

FIFA regulations state
that member countries should nominate 20 men as qualified referees or linesmen
each year, but Viet Nam presently lacks qualified personnel.

After match fixing
scandals rocked the nation in 2007, around 40 referees and officials were
suspended pending a police investigation.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News