Smoking should be kept to a minimum in the stands and technical areas during the matches of the top-flight V-League from the 2015 season which will start in January, the Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) has announced, citing new regulations.

Pham Ngoc Vien, VPF general director, said fans, officials, and coaches will be required to refrain from smoking during V-League games from next year onward as per newly-promulgated rules.

VPF is a joint stock company in charge of organizing the league.

The new rules, intended to protect people’s health in public places, will also be one of the standards against which fan clubs will be ranked, Vien added.

In the upcoming season, the VPF under the management of the Vietnam Football Federation will organize votes to choose the best fan club every month with a cash prize of VND20 million (US$962) to promote fair support from fans.

In the previous competitions, the prize was only awarded at the end of each season.

The 2015 V-League will have the participation of 14 clubs who are the representatives of 14 provinces and cities with the most developed football movement in the nation.

The competition will be organized in three stages with two breaks, starting on January 4 and closing on September 20.

The league will pause from February 15 to April 12 for players to take part in the qualifiers of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship in Malaysia from March 23 to 31, and from May 3 to June 28 to facilitate the Vietnamese national team to attend the 28^th SEA Games in Singapore.

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