Vietnamese American Mae Mua (L) and Alamgir Kashmiri, managing director of Singaporean Strata Sports Marketing Company.

Mae Mua has been working as a sports marketing agent in Vietnam for about a decade now. In 2006 she became FIFA certified, making Mua the only FIFA agent working in Vietnam.

Mua passed the Féderation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) test in September 2006 to become a FIFA agent.

She and Strata’s managing director Alamgir Kashmiri made big contributions to the beginning of V-League. The company was the official sponsor for the top-tier division in its early days in 2001 and 2002.

Mua helped V-League club Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) connect with Arsenal, the English Premier League club. In 2007 the two clubs created HAGL Arsenal JMG, a program that helps train junior football players.

She also helped Ho Chi Minh City Football Federation set up a community football program in 2008 .The VinamilkArsenal Soccer School at HCMC Hoa Luu Stadium was created to help interested children become professional footballers.

Introduction of good players

One of the players Mua has introduced is John Agnimou, who came from Ivory Coast in 2007. Agnimou has been a fan favorite at the second-tier First Division club Ninh Binh.

Players have come and gone but attacking midfielder Agnimou has always been a choice in the first team of Ninh Binh. The club is now in first place and just needs two more wins to be promoted to the V-League next season.

Ninh Binh’s former coach Doan Minh Xuong said, “Mua always introduces players trained at good centers, so we can rely on her.”

“In fact, John has always been a favorite at Ninh Binh. So far, some foreign players have come but John has proved a good choice at the club.”

Recently, Mua introduced Cedric Moukori, a former player at the French Ligue 1 club Nancy, to First Division club Hoa Phat Hanoi for the second half of this season.

After five rounds, Moukori scored two goals. He scored a goal in the capital club’s 3-2 win over Quang Ninh in the 16th round on June 13 and another goal in the club’s 2-1 19th round victory over Tay Ninh last weekend, helping the club to stay in second place. Hoa Phat Hanoi has a good chance of being promoted to V-League next season.

Hoa Phat Hanoi’s coach Nguyen Thanh Vinh said, “Mua introduces excellent players. We feel more confident with Moukori in the front line, especially when the season is getting harder near the end.”

Mua has not been involved in large transfers yet, like those of Japanese Brazilian broker Mauro Omzuka, who coordinated the deal of Denilson de Oliveira Araujo to Hai Phong last month. Denilson is an immensely popular player in Brazil, and he was on the 2002 FIFA World Cup championship team.

She once said, “Average players can be found easily but I don’t want to introduce them to Vietnamese clubs while big international names are too expensive for local clubs too; so I just try to find good players at reasonable prices and their arrivals wouldn’t cause disorder in the clubs.”

Mua works with the former coach of HCMC Police club Nguyen Dat Hung and the former coach of Vietnam Futsal (indoor football) squad Nguyen Van Long. Together, they select foreign players before sending them to Vietnamese clubs for trials. However, she hasn’t been as successful as she expected.

“I am a woman and have certain difficulties in finding footballers as well as working with clubs like men brokers,” Mua said. “Also, I have always followed the players to see how well they get on with the new environments, so it takes quite a long time and I can’t introduce many players.

“In the future, I will try to work with partners to expand the market and make better use of my role as a FIFA agent.”

Addionally, Mua has been doing a good job in introducing coaches. In 2005, she brought David Booth from Myanmar to Khanh Hoa.

Last month, she also arranged for Austrian coach Alfred Riedl to take over Laos’ U23 football squad, to better prepare them for the 25th South East Asian Games in Vientiane in December.

Reported by Quang Tuyen