A Vietnamese firm is planning to build an Arsenal-supported football (soccer) academy in Ho Chi Minh City following the success of the first such facility established in Vietnam eight years ago.

Nutifood, a nutrition company, has worked with authorities in the city on a proposal to construct the Nutifood HAGL – Arsenal JMG academy after it signed a memorandum of understanding with the HAGL – Arsenal JMG academy on January 31. 

The firm’s plan on that academy has been submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee for consideration.

Hua Ngoc Thuan, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, said in a meeting with Nutifood representatives on Tuesday that the city welcomes the non-profit football academy project and will give priority to its construction soon. 

He requested the Department of Culture and Sports to work closely with Nutifood to survey the site for the construction.

Deputy Chairman Thuan recommended that the academy be built in the Rach Chiec sports complex in District 2.

Tran Thanh Hai, board chairman of Nutifood, said, “We will ask the city to grant us an area from five to ten hectares for building three training grounds, swimming pools, and other facilities.”

The Nutifood HAGL – Arsenal JMG academy plans to recruit its first batch of trainees in June this year and they will be temporarily trained at Phu Tho Sports Hall in District 11.

The HAGL – Arsenal JMG academy was founded in 2007 in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai with technical support from English Premier League side Arsenal and Jean-Marc Guillou (JMG), a French ex-footballer and currently trainer.

Many players from this academy have been called up to the under-19 and under-23 national teams of Vietnam so many people have believed the facility is a success story of training young footballers for the country.

Guillou and the company JMG has nine academies throughout the world, including sites in the Ivory Coast established in 1994, Madagascar in 2000, Thailand in 2005, Mali in 2006, Algeria and Egypt in 2007, Ghana in 2008, and Belgium in 2009.

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