VFF General Secretary Lê Hoài Anh and Hưng Thịn Corporation representative Võ Văn Thư (left) at the international friendly tournament sponsorship signing ceremony in Hà Nội on September 15. — Photo of VFF

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Football Federation on September 15 officially announced an international friendly match later this week in HCM City.

The tournament, which is sponsored by Hưng Thịnh Corporation, will see matches between Việt Nam, Singapore and India at the Thống Nhất Stadium.

Previously, India was invited but then withdrew due to a ban by the world football governing body after “flagrant violations of the FIFA statutes” because of “undue influence from third parties” on August 15.

Several days later, the ban was lifted after the problem was solved and India will join the competition as planned.

The event, held during FIFA days, is one of the activities of Việt Nam's preparation for the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 in November.

National head coach Park Hang-seo appreciated the quality of the two guest teams. The South Korean earlier this week called 31 players to practise for the three-side tournament as well as the regional Cup which sees Singapore in same group B with Việt Nam.

VFF General Secretary Lê Hoài Anh said while the Việt Nam vs Singapore match was a good test for both sides, the presence of India, a strong team of the South Asia region, at Thống Nhất Stadium will make the tournament more competitive and lure more attention of local supporters.

Võ Văn Thư, a representative of Hưng Thịnh Group said, “as the main sponsor, we hope that the friendly tournament will be hard-fought, fair-play matches. Players will have chances to sharpen their skills and coaches will select the best ones for the AFF Cup."

The Vietnamese team, which will gather both senior and junior players, will begin training on September 17. 

Việt Nam will play Singapore, who will arrive HCM City on September 19, on September 21.

The hosts will entertain India, landing in Việt Nam on September 20, on September 27.

Singapore and India will face each other on September 24.

Tickets will be sold online through app VinID with prices ranging from VNĐ100,000-500,000 (US$4.22-21) each from September 14-16. VNS