Ready to lead: Le Hung Dung celebrates after becoming the ninth chairman of the Viet Nam Football Federation. Dung promised to lead the national football to new heights in his working term. — VNS Photo Quang Thang

HA NOI (VNS) — The newly elected chairman of the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) has promised to take the nation's football to a new level.

Le Hung Dung became the VFF chairman after receiving 60 out of 62 votes at the federation's seventh congress held yesterday in Ha Noi.

Dung will shoulder the responsibility for the 2014-18 period, during which he vouches to do his best for the development of national football.

Dung had taken charge as the acting chairman for about five months after his predecessor Nguyen Trong Hy resigned last year. He was the only one candidate who ran for the post.

"I promise that along with my deputies and members of the VFF executive committee, I will take Vietnamese football to a new height," Dung declared in front of hundreds of delegates.

Dung, who is the chairman of the Viet Nam Export Import Bank's board of directors, will be assisted by three deputies.

Tran Quoc Tuan, member of the Asian Football Confederation's Executive Committee, is taking charge as the technical deputy chairman. Doan Nguyen Duc, the boss of V-League's Hoang Anh Gia Lai, will take charge of the financial matters, while Nguyen Xuan Gu, the deputy head of Viet Nam Olympic Committee's Publicity Department, will be responsible for communication and marketing.

While addressing the congress yesterday, Dung, 60, spoke about the weaknesses in domestic football, which have existed for many years. He also outlined a plan to improve the sport.

"There are many inadequacies in the way football is managed in Viet Nam, while the local tournaments are faced with a shortage of funds for smooth operations," noted the An Giang Province-born chairman.

However, Dung expressed delight on seeing an increase in the number of fans flocking the stadiums every weekend, which meant that Vietnamese football was gaining popularity.

He remarked that in the first two years of his term, he plans to build an attractive and competitive environment for football, which will help to generate greater interest in the king of sports.

The new chairman also intends to keep a close eye on the training of young football players.

VFF's centre for youth football will initiate different activities, with the key objective of producing qualified players for the clubs.

"VFF will cooperate with some federations and hire experts for youth training similar to what is being done in Liverpool and Ajax Amsterdam. They will share their experiences and help to improve the skills of the coaches in Viet Nam," Dung elaborated.

"Clubs should select players at an early age and give them methodical trainings.

"After about 10 years, we will have a talented pool of players to compete at local and international level competitions," Dung pointed out.

The chairman plans to set detailed targets during his term.

He stated that the national men's team were egged on to triumph in the Asian championships, while the women's squad were expected to book a berth to compete at the 2015 World Cup in Canada. The U19s are expected to win the continental competition and the VFF could sign a contract with a new coach for the national team in April in preparation for the Suzuki Cup to be held later this year.

In 2014, the VFF will also take action against those referees who have performed poorly and also against those allegedly involved in bribery.

"There will be a strong reform in the way referees are managed. It will help to partly make football a more transparent sport," he added.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam held a meeting with VFF's new committee.

He asserted that the VFF has the responsibility of developing football, a sport that is closely followed by millions of people nationwide.

Deputy PM also remarked that the Government truly cared for sports in general, and football in particular. Different ministries and agencies will work in tandem to raise the quality of football from club to national levels as well as improve youth training.

Dam also requested the VFF to pay more attention to women's football.

"I have watched their games and found that they played well and confidently. I think that if we do not support them we will fail to capitalise on their talent," noted Dam. — VNS