Football

HÀ NỘI — Hoàng Anh Gia Lai FC’s striker Nguyễn Văn Toàn received the 2017 Fair Play Award at an annual event organised by HCM City Law newspaper yesterday in HCM City.

The national team player, who topped the list of five final nominees, finally took the honour due to his impressive behaviour during a match between Hoàng Anh Gia Lai and FLC Thanh Hóa in the 12th round on April 8, 2017.

Toàn tried to persuade his teammates and managers to continue the game while they wanted to give up to object the referee’s decisions, which according to them brought a negative result for Hoàng Anh Gia Lai.

In that match, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai lost 2-3.

Apart from the trophy, Toàn was given VNĐ40 million (US$1,800).

Earlier, the 21-year-old player and his teammates in the U-23 squad were also honoured as a Fair Play team as they had great success at the recent Asian Championship in China.

Organisers said the team brought home not only the silver medal but also made Vietnamese people proud with what they did. They made Việt Nam well known in Asia and the world. They were heroes of the nation.

Coach Mai Đức Chung who took care of both the national women’s and men’s team took the second prize while national women’s team player, Trần Thị Thùy Trang, who played football to save her mother suffering from cancer, came third.

Speaking at the ceremony, Việt Nam Football Federation’s (VFF) Trần Anh Tú said the Fair Play Award has played a big role in the growth of national football. The VFF would try its best to create a healthy environment so that football could strongly develop and see many more fair play players and behaviour.

More than 150 sports people including reporters, coaches, experts and other were invited to vote for the award, which ran for the sixth edition this year. — VNS