The Korea Youth Football Association (KYFA) and JoongAng Ilbo have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly organize a youth international soccer tournament in Vietnam.
KYFA and JoongAng Ilbo held a signing ceremony at the JoongAng Ilbo office on Sejong-daero in Seoul on the 26th to co-host the Korean Youth Football Tournament in Vietnam with the aim of revitalizing Korean youth football and promoting international exchanges. KYFA President Kim Myung-woo, Senior Vice President Shin Seung-chul, JoongAng Ilbo’s Head of Advertising Business Han Jung-hee, Vice President Kim Young-taek, and Business Director Choi Myung-ki were in attendance.
The two organizations agreed to hold the ‘Korea Youth Football Festival in Vietnam’ for three days and two nights from December 15 at the Tan Long Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The KYFA and JoongAng Ilbo will co-organize and host the tournament, and the Doosan Yonkang Foundation will serve as a sponsor.
The tournament is open to elementary school students in three age groups: U-9, U-10, and U-12, with 24 teams in each age group, totaling 72 teams and more than 1,000 players. The tournament will feature top clubs from Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as youth teams affiliated with professional soccer teams from Europe and Japan.
The tournament will be organized as a group stage followed 토토 by a tournament, and teams that do not make it to the top tier will have the opportunity to gain experience through a separate league with ranking matches.
Shin Seung-cheol, Senior Vice President of the Korea Youth Association, said, “We have been conducting youth winter training in Vietnam for many years and hosting various friendly matches, so we have gained enough know-how,” adding, “The enthusiasm for youth soccer in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, is beyond imagination. We will open the door for exchanges and mutual growth of youth soccer in Asia by partnering with JoongAng Ilbo, which has hosted many international sports events in marathons, baseball, and other sports.”