By Mark Baber
August 14 – A campaign by fans of Arsenal football club to focus attention on the land grabbing and forest destroying activities of the club’s partner in South East Asia hit the UK’s main BBC news yesterday. The club’s recent tour of Vietnam, at which club officials including Arsenal’s executive director Keith Edleman, marketing director Angus Kinnear, and manager Arsene Wenger were pictured with HAGL’s Vietnamese tycoon owner Doan Nguyen Duc, has turned into a PR disaster.
The Vietnamese billionaire made his money through his company HAGL whose activities, according to international NGO Global Witness, include logging rainforests. Duc is accused of driving the local inhabitants off the land and involvement in human rights abuses in Cambodia and Laos.
Doan Nguyen Duc, who is an avid Arsenal fan has set up a football club called HAGL-Arsenal, is accused of playing a major role in the deforestation of Vietnam and told Forbes magazine: “I think natural resources are limited, and I need to take them before they’re gone.”
HAGL receives financial support for its activities from Deutsche Bank and the World Bank as well as being listed on the London Stock Exchange.
HAGL denies “involvement in land grabbing, illegal logging or other corrupt activities in Laos and Cambodia.”
Speaking to the Independent newspaper, Arsenal claimed in May to be unaware of the allegations against HAGL. In response to the recent BBC allegations, the club said: “We have no formal academy partnership with HAGL.”
Arsenal added: “They were not sponsors of our recent game in Hanoi and they have no rights to use our name for retail purposes.”
However, Arsenal’s announcement of a deal from March 2007 remains on the Arsenal site in which they say “Arsenal Football Club and Vietnamese League club Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) are delighted to announce a technical and marketing partnership today, Tuesday 6th March, which will continue to develop the north London club’s presence in Asia.
The partnership will lead to the establishment and operation of an Arsenal elite football academy in Vietnam, technical support for the HAGL football team and various commercial, marketing and business support for the Vietnamese club. Arsenal will also use the partnership as an opportunity to further develop club-related marketing and merchandising initiatives along with community outreach soccer school activities in Vietnam.”
Global Witness claim that HAGL are using their relationship with Arsenal to launder their reputation. The 2007 Arsenal press release says; “Mr. Duc, Chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC said ”We are delighted that such a prestigious and historic club as Arsenal is undertaking this joint venture with HAGL FC.”
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