The arrest of business tycoon and football boss Nguyen Duc Kien will not affect the operations of the Vietnam Professional Football Company, said Vo Quoc Thang, manager and board chairman of Vietnam’s most important league, to a SGGP reporter on Tuesday, August 21.
Kien, deputy chairman of VPF was arrested from his home on Monday evening on charges of insider trading.
However, Thang assured that since Kien was authorized to manage only 3.9 percent stake in the company, his arrest would not be disastrous for the company in any way.
“It is not necessary to convene a meeting of leaders of VPF at the moment, as Kien was merely one of nine members of the Board of Directors. Concerning normal operations, we have assigned Pham Ngoc Vien as general manager, so the arrest of Kien will not affect the operations of the company”, Thang added.
“Though the football season 2011-2012 actually has two second semi-final matches and one final match in the National Cup this weekend, the organizational issue remains unaffected because everything has been pre-arranged well.
The company is legally represented by the board of directors and directly managed by the chief executive, so Kien’s problem will not have a damaging effect,” Thang elaborated
VFF chairman Nguyen Trong Hy said, "As soon as I heard the news of Kien’s arrest, I made telephone contact with all members of the Board of Directors of VPF. First of all, I encourage and advise them to keep calm and try to work together until the end of the season.”
According to Hy, Kien is currently considered a key figure in Vietnamese football after founding VPF last year, together with other local billionaires.
The two football tournaments were earlier organized by the local football federation, before being transferred to VPF following Kien and his associates’ efforts to ‘purify’ the competition, which is plagued by match fixing and dishonest refereeing.
Nguyen Trong Hy, chairman of the Vietnamese Football Federation (VFF) which holds a controlling stake in VPF, said another person will be appointed as a replacement for Kien.
“VFF and VPF will try their best to prevent any possible chaos,” Hy added.
Director General Pham Ngoc Vien said that VPF will soon be officially notified about this problem on the company's website.
Regarding proceeds from television rights in the 2012 season as well as the 50 billion funding for this season of VPF, he speculated that this amount had been contributed by the council, so Kien’s arrest will create no ripples.
Contrary to the VPF bosses’ confidence, worry and uncertainty have dogged the players and coaches of Kien’s two clubs, Hanoi Soccer Club in the V-League and Hanoi Juniors in the First Division, since Kien’s arrest.
The players in Hanoi Soccer Club were very anxious because the club has yet to pay off salaries, bonuses, and transfer fees for this season, which ended Sunday.
Captain Pham Thanh Luong, who has been with Kien for almost ten years, admitted this is the most confusing moment in his career as he does not know what the future may hold.
