The German Athletics Federation has informed its Vietnamese counterpart it will temporarily halt the project to support the Vietnamese track and field as of this year, according to the Vietnam Athletics Federation.
While support in the form of long-term projects is suspended due to economic reasons, the German agency said they will maintain assistance on small-scale and short-term projects, said VAF General Secretary Hoang Manh Cuong.
Sponsored by the German government, the project was agreed on November 17, 2009, between the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, and the GAF, the German Embassy in Vietnam, and the German National Olympics Committee.
The project was aimed at developing the track-and-field sport in Vietnam through the training of coaches, recruitment of young talents, and building of plans over a four-year period between 2009 and 2013.
German Doctor Uwe Friemuth was appointed to lead the project in 2009, and has since assisted the VAF and the General Department of Sports and Physical Training in setting up athletics coach training classes, and building competition and training schedules for local talented athletes.
Doctor Friemuth ended his two-year term and returned to Germany before the Lunar New Year (January 23), informed Cuong.
Under the project, the Vietnamese athletics over the past two years have been provided with modern facilities and machines such as massage beds and cardiographs, as well as an annual financial aid worth US$30,000 from the German government.
