4 V.League referees demoted due to professional errors

Head of the National Referee Board Nguyen Van Mui has just revealed the identities of four referees who were transferred from the V-League to the First Division due to serious mistakes last season.

In the information exchange meeting held this morning at the VFF headquarters, Head of the Referee Board Nguyen Van Mui said that 4 V-League referees were transferred to officiate in the First Division. They were referee Ha Anh Chien - who made a serious mistake in the match between FLC Thanh Hoa and SLNA last season, referee Phung Dinh Dung - who was also not registered as a FIFA referee, referee Dinh Van Dung and referee Ngo Manh Cuong - who was criticized for "not showing any progress in recent times".

VFF Vice President in charge of communications and foreign affairs Nguyen Xuan Gu also requested that Vietnamese referees need to be more strict to avoid red cards and yellow cards for Vietnamese players when competing in international tournaments. “The Vietnamese team at the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016, played 5 matches, received 2 red cards, 7 yellow cards. Meanwhile, Thailand had 5 yellow cards in 7 matches. They said they play football, but we play football. We should think thoroughly and implement seriously.”

Referees always become the "center of attention" in V.League. Illustration photo: Duc Dung

Head of the National Referee Board Nguyen Van Mui said: “Referee training and coaching also need more investment and longer-term. In the current context, football rules have changed widely and very fundamentally. For example, in the past, preventing a goal was an immediate red card. But if that situation happened in the penalty area, the referee had to calculate whether to give a red card or not. If the team was penalized with a red card, the match would not be as good anymore.”

Also during the meeting and information exchange, Head of the Disciplinary Committee Nguyen Hai Huong also announced the process of completing the Disciplinary Regulations to ensure the building of a fair and strict common playground. Accordingly, the provisions will be explained in a simpler, easier to understand way and clearly defined for each case.

According to Bongdaplus