HA NOI — The Viet Nam Professional Football Jointsock Company (VPF) has been officially established in Ha Noi.

The VFP, which will replace the VFF to manage all local tournaments beginning in the 2012 season, has set a target to strongly develop national football.

The company will also take care of the national teams to ensure Viet Nam reaches competitions at the regional and international levels.

The company is chaired by Vo Quoc Thang who is assisted by three deputies: Le Hung Dung, Nguyen Duc Kien and Doan Nguyen Duc. While Dung is the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) deputy chairman, the trio of assistants are all leaders of big spending V-League teams and are in charge of Viet Nam's powerful business groups.

All members of the management board work without a salary.

Pham Ngoc Vien, VFF deputy chairman, was named general director and will be assisted by two deputies, Pham Phu Hoa and Luu Quang Lam.

"I am happy and also worried about my position as chairman of the VPF. But I have been working in the football field for more than 10 years now and together with the other board members, we promise to build a sustainable and powerful company to support our football," said Thang after receiving his appointment.

"We hope to receive great support from the ministry [of Culture, Sports and Tourism] and the VFF in the future for a stronger national football while local clubs will also benefit and have an interest in the company. I believe that thousands of fans will also encourage and contribute to our success," he said.

"The establishment of the VPF marks a turning point in Vietnamese football. I hope that the company will play a key role in helping our football get closer to the international level," said Le Khanh Hai, deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

"After about 10 years of professional football, the management activities have not significantly curbed weaknesses in different fields. The VPF will solve the problems despite many challenges and obstacles thanks to its experienced founders, VFF members and football lovers," he added.

At the company's first shareholder meeting on Wednesday, the VPF also introduced some changes and new rules to be applied beginning next season.

One of the changes involves a name change: the premier league will now be called V-League 1 while the First Division will be V-League 2.

Clubs are also being asked to develop their own junior teams to take part in annual championships.

Viet kieu (Vietnamese) players are encouraged to play in Viet Nam while the number of allowable foreign players remains limited and will be decreased in the coming seasons. — VNS