The national radio station Voice of Vietnam (VOV), which also runs a TV station, has acquired the exclusive telecast rights for the qualification round of the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship.
VOV confirmed on Friday morning that it had signed a deal with the Vietnamese digital content provider Next Media regarding broadcasting rights across the country of all qualification games of Vietnam at the tournament.
VOV is the exclusive broadcaster of the event across all TV platforms in Vietnam, meaning any other unit must seek its permission for rebroadcasting, a Next Media leader told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
The 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers run from March 22 to 26. Vietnam share Group K with Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei.
Viewers in Vietnam will be able to legitimately watch all the six games of Group K on VTC3, VTC1 and VTC Now, channels run by VOV-run VTC TV Station.
Next Media said many other channels have asked to rebroadcast the matches from VOV.
During the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification, a total of 16 teams will qualify to play in the final tournament, including Thailand who qualified automatically as hosts. These matches also serve as the first stage of the AFC qualifiers for the 2020 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Japan.
In each group, teams play each other once at a centralized venue. The eleven group winners and the four best runners-up qualify for the final tournament. If the final tournament hosts Thailand win their group or are among the four best runners-up, the fifth best runner-up also qualifies for the final tournament.
The Asian qualifiers is considered an important competition in 2019 to Vietnam’s youth football, which targets to secure a spot in the final tournament.
In preparation for the event, Vietnam’s U-23 team have been practicing in Hanoi since Wednesday, under the instruction of South Korean coach Park Hang Seo.
The Golden Stars will face Brunei in their group opener on March 22, before playing Indonesia on March 24 and Thailand on March 26.
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