DFL and Vietnamese Football Federation renew partnership through new Memorandum of Understanding to extend close cooperation
26 February – 2024 The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and the Vietnamese Football Federation (VFF) have officially extended their partnership, signing a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure continued collaboration until 2028.
Nguyen Van Phu (General Secretary VFF) and Peer Naubert (Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer Bundesliga International) signing the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding. Standing from left to right: Mai Duc Chung (Head coach of Vietnam’s women national team), Tran Quoc Tuan (President VFF), Helga Margarete Barth (German Ambassador to Vietnam), Nguyen Phuong Hoa (Director of International Cooperation Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism), Nguyen Hong Minh (Deputy Director of Sport Administration Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism).
The main objective of the MoU builds on the work done between the two football organisations in recent years, with the goal of strengthening the position of football in Vietnam. A central pillar of the MoU is the Bundesliga Dream project, which is aimed at enhancing the quality of Vietnam’s national youth teams, in order to achieve even more success on the international stage. Furthermore, the DFL and its clubs will also support the VFF and the wider Vietnamese footballing ecosystem with guidance and support when it comes to technical, sporting and medical expertise, in order to develop the quality of performance at all levels. This includes hosting coaching and medical exchanges, as well as incorporating the growth of women’s football in Vietnam.
In return, the VFF will aid the DFL in growing the presence of the Bundesliga in Vietnam, a key market with an established and passionate football fanbase, through the amplification of the various projects via the federation’s wide-ranging media channels.
Peer Naubert (Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer Bundesliga International) and Tran Quoc Tuan (President VFF) exchange gifts following the official signing of the MoU extension
In March 2022, the two organisations were part of an original MoU that focused on improving advancing league and club structures, as well as developing the football fan basis and culture in Vietnam. This next agreement extends the collaboration to ensure a continued development of football in Vietnam, with a wider scope to include more activations that in.
German and Vietnamese football have come together for several key initiatives in recent years, including RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt hosting the Vietnamese women’s team in 2024 and 2023 respectively, and Borussia Dortmund playing a friendly match against the Vietnam men’s national team as part of a mid-season Asia Tour in 2022. Football continues to be a rapidly-growing sport in Vietnam at all levels, and earlier this year the men’s national team won the ASEAN Championship for the third time in the country’s history.
Bundesliga International Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer Peer Naubert said: “For the DFL, internationalisation does not just mean the distribution of media rights. Our approach is to maintain strong relationships with leagues and associations around the globe – exchanging know how as well as ideas and working together to better understand what football means to fans in those countries. This is the foundation of our collaboration, and we look forward to the partnership with the VFF.”
VFF General Secretary, Dr. Nguyen Van Phu said: “German football is very popular with fans all over the world. In recent years, VFF has been focusing on the cooperation with international organisations to help Vietnamese football develop and achieve new successes. The cooperation with the DFL over the last years, as well as this new MOU, will be a crucial resource contributing to the sustainable development of Vietnamese football, as well as bringing the two nations’ football scene even closer together, and opening up many opportunities for cooperation in the future.”
The DFL is committed to the support and development of football in Asia, both on and off the pitch. Youth development projects have been initiated across Asia, beginning with the Youth Incubator Project in Vietnam as a pilot project in 2022. The immense success of the Youth Incubator Project served as the precursor to Bundesliga Dream, which has become a key part of the Bundesliga’s regional approach in supporting the growth of football throughout Asia, with 10 editions already concluded.
Delegations from the Vietnam Football Federation and DFL came together alongside political figures from Vietnam and Germany for the official signing ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The Bundesliga is the home for Asian players in Europe, having welcomed more players from Asia than the rest of the other top five European leagues combined. From legends of the game such as Bum-kun Cha, named Asian player of the 20th century, and Yasuhiko Okudera, the first Japanese player to feature in a top European league before going on to win the Bundesliga with 1. FC Köln, Asian talent has been a hallmark of German football. Current national team stars Kim Min-Jae (FC Bayern München), Ko Itakura (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Ritsu Dōan (SC Freiburg) have since taken the mantle, while Kevin Diks will become the first Indonesian international and sixth South-East Asian player in the Bundesliga – after the likes of Wittaya Laohakul (Thailand) and Chhunly Pagenburg (Cambodia) when he makes the move to Borussia Mönchengladbach this summer.
