Lao football federation sets goals

The Lao Football Federation believes Laos will perform well at the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane this December and has particularly high hopes for the women's side.

Federation President, Mr Phouvanh Vongsouthi, made the claims despite the fact that Lao teams failed to make an impression at the recent Asean Championships ‘Suzuki Cup' last December.

Mr Phouvanh said the women's team was capable of making the gold medal play-off match and the men's team should make the semi-finals at the games.

The federation held a press conference to announce an official sponsorship deal for the national under-23 men's football squad last Friday.

The Lao Brewery Company has agreed to provide support worth almost 510 million kip (US$60,000) to the team as they prepare for the SEA Games.

“There are currently 30 players attending a training camp being coached by Mr Xaysana Savatdy, and we will announce a final 20 player squad before the games begin,” Mr Phouvanh said.

“We plan to send the under-23 squad to train with the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Football Club in Vietnam and participate in several warm-up matches. The team will also spend three or four weeks training in Malaysia .”

“We also hope to invite teams to Laos for friendly matches in the lead-up to the games, but we face a problem with a lack of facilities as most stadiums are undergoing renovation ahead of the games,” he added.

The federation has an annual budget of about 2 billion kip (US$250,000) provided by FIFA and the Lao government, but still struggles to finance football development projects around the country.

By Sisay Vilaysack
February 24, 2009