Viet
Nam Television (VTV) and Viet Nam Cable Television (VCTV) have reached
agreements concerning V-League’s broadcasting rights after two weeks of
negotiations with cable TV provider Audio Vision Global (AVG).

As scheduled, VTV will
broadcast live 20 of total 91 matches in the first leg of the national premier
football championship, V-League, while VCTV said it will telecast 38 matches.

However, Viet Nam
Multi-Media Corporation (VTC) and Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) have yet to
finalise their negotiations with AVG.

Last week, AVG said it
had sold V-League’s 91 broadcasting rights of first leg matches to local
television stations for VND40 million (US$2,000) each.

AVG won a 20-year
contract with the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) last December to broadcast
V-League matches worth VND6 billion (US$300,000) per year.

AVG, which is licensed
to operate a satellite and digital television service, plans to officially
launch a 70-channel TV package late this year.

The V-League will kick
off on January 23, and Vietnamese fans will be able to watch matches on VTV’s
channel 3 and VCTV’s Football TV.

The national football
championship has been a money maker for the VFF since 2004 when VTV paid VND4
billion ($200,000) to broadcast V-League matches.

Under the deal, the
VFF and its sponsors take 40 per cent of the fees, while the two participating
teams share the remainder. The host team takes 40 per cent and the visiting team
20 per cent.

Footballer
banned for quitting

Viet Nam Football
Federation (VFF)’s disciplinary committee has banned striker Hoang Danh Ngoc
from football for 18 months and fined him VND2.4 billion (US$120,000).

Ngoc will be banned
from official matches starting from the first day that he signs a contract with
another club.

The 21-year-old said
that he wanted to leave after Nam Dinh was demoted to lower First Division,
which led to financial problems for the club.

Nam Dinh had not been
able to pay Ngoc’s salary for a few months.

The VFF said Ngoc
breached clause 55 in VFF’s disciplinary law.

Due to unilaterally
ending his contract before it expired, Ngoc also must compensate Nam Dinh
football club for the eight-year training fee, which totals $120,000.

VFF said that Ngoc
could appeal the decision with the VFF’s appeals committee within seven days.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News