Hòa Bình FC players at their sending-off ceremony last week. Hòa Bình will play Vĩnh Phúc in the opening match of the Asanzo Cup next month. Photo courtesy of VFF

Football

HÀ NỘI — The national second division football tournament will kick off early next month with the participation of 14 teams.

The third tier tournament, sponsored by the electronics firm Asanzo, will see teams competing in two groups in two legs in a round-robin format. The first leg is from May 4 to June 6 and the second from July 5 to August 4.

The opening match will be between Hòa Bình and Vĩnh Phúc of Group A. 

The two top teams of each group will advance to the final round which is scheduled for August 12. The winners of the last-four stage will share top position, receive VNĐ150 million (US$7,500) each and be promoted to the V.League 2 next season.

Selected matches of the tournament, which is officially called the Asanzo Cup, will be live aired on media platforms of the Việt Nam Football Federation (VFF) and Next Sports.

According to VFF General Secretary Lê Hoài Anh, the support of partner Asanzo and other sponsors will be strong pushes for the tournament, clubs and players.

"The second division tournament is a competition to maintain and develop football movement in all national localities. Recently, the VFF has tried hard to carry out plans to improve the effectiveness of organisation activities and quality of the tournament," said Anh at the sponsorship signing ceremony on Wednesday in Hà Nội.

"We hope that the Asanzo Cup 2021 will lure people's attention and will become a basic element to evaluate the development of amateur football in particular and national football in general," he said.

Phạm Văn Tam, Asanzo's chairman of the board of directors, described his pleasure to support national football again, especially the second division event which is considered a transitional point between amateur and professional football.

It is the second time that Asanzo has supported the tournament, following the first time in 2019.

Tam said the company's support would be a strong foundation for the event and open the door for players to higher level tournaments in the future. VNS