Pupils in Hanoi will have the opportunity to receive professional football training and participate in a major youth football tournament this year.

They will offer training with the professional coaches from Japan from the ages of six to twelve.

The organisers are holding a pilot in Hanoi this year and plan to expand it to HCM City and Danang City in 2013.

The campaign will officially kickoff on June 2nd with the skill training sessions for U6, U8 and U10 in Hanoi. Coaches from Japan will directly train and exchange experiences with local coaches.

Former Japanese footballer Masakuni Yamamoto will be a consultant and lead the training.

50 primary schools in the capital will benefit from football training equipment by the fourth quarter of this year.

Attending the event, head of the Hanoi Education and Training Department's Primary Education Division, Pham Xuan Tien said that to get the support, the schools needed to have a proper field and a sports teacher.

“Hanoi now has nearly 700 primary schools, but only 300 of them have a field for football,” Tien said. “We will choose five schools in each district for the activity.”

An U11 and U13 tournament will be held in June and July in Vinh Phuc and Ninh Thuan provinces. The winning team will compete in the ASEAN Cup in Malaysia and Jubilo Cup in Japan.