If Long An withdraws from the tournament...

(Baonghean.vn) - The rare incident at Thong Nhat Stadium in the 6th round of V.League 2017 will certainly cause headaches for the Vietnam Football Federation and the tournament organizers. Meanwhile, on the Long An Club side, many people have thought that the former V.League champion will abandon this tournament halfway.

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Up to this point, goalkeeper Minh Nhut - who turned his back to the goal, did not catch the ball, allowing Long An to lose 3 consecutive goals - has been suspended by the Club's Board of Directors for 3 matches and has had all his salary, bonuses, and signing bonuses cut during the disciplinary period. Not stopping there, Mr. Vo Thanh Nhiem - Chairman of Long An Club himself also submitted a resignation letter.

Referee Thu awarded the home team Ho Chi Minh City a second penalty in the 89th minute, causing the match to fall into tragedy. Photo: Internet.

In his resignation letter to the Board of Directors of Long An Football Development Joint Stock Company dated February 20, Mr. Vo Thanh Nhiem stated: "Vietnamese football in recent years still has many limitations. According to the leader of Long An Club, the limitations in work and management affect the results of matches. And it is like the last straw, causing frustration for those directly participating in the match, leading to harsh and inevitable reactions of the players on the field."

Mr. Vo Thanh Nhiem also frankly admitted that the incident that happened at Thong Nhat Stadium was unacceptable, leading to his decision to resign from his position. According to Mr. Nhiem, when arguing, the referee admitted that it was a judgment error. However, the chairman of Long An Club expressed remorse in his petition, saying: "I also regret my unprofessionalism, which was not in accordance with the standards of sports, and was not in accordance with VPF regulations when I went down to the field in this situation, reacted and argued with the referee when the match had not ended yet."

It is unclear whether Long An will continue to compete in round 7 of V.League 2017 or not. However, the Vietnam Football Federation had to hold an urgent meeting to resolve all the deadlocks. In the worst case scenario, Long An leaves V.League, the one who will suffer the most is probably SLNA. Because the Nghe An team just won against this team in round 4. This means that the result of this match will be canceled, SLNA will be deducted 3 points and fall to the bottom of the rankings.

If Long An withdraws from the tournament, SLNA will be deducted 3 points... Photo: Internet.

Remember the 2012 V.League held at Lach Tray Stadium, SLNA foreign player scored a completely legal goal. However, the referee team in charge of this match, Tran Trung Hieu and assistant Do Manh Ha, made a serious mistake when they 'blow the whistle' and did not recognize the goal. After that, SLNA players reacted strongly, coach Nguyen Huu Thang left the control area but the match continued.

After the scandal in this round, Mr. Vo Quoc Thang - the famous former owner of Dong Tam Long An Brick Club and currently the Chairman of VPF expressed his disagreement with the action of protesting the referee of his favorite team, using SLNA as an example of professional behavior of football teams:

“Even a 30-second stop is unacceptable, let alone a 1-minute, 3-minute or 5-minute stop. Look at SLNA Club, they were also upset with the referee but still played, then sent a petition to the tournament organizers. But in this case, Long An Club violated the rules of the game, the tournament regulations, and stopped the match. I was sitting in the stands, unable to go down and remind them. Because the law stipulates that only the referee, referee supervisor, and match supervisor have the right to remind. I am very unhappy with this behavior of Long An team.”

In 2013, SLNA was also deducted 4 points because Sai Gon Xuan Thanh withdrew from the tournament midway, at that time, SLNA had 1 win and 1 draw against this team. The result was annulled, the Nghe An team accepted losing the runner-up position in V.League 2013 due to extremely rare incidents. And this time, it is not impossible that the same thing will happen again. Currently, coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team are ranked 12th with 5 points, followed by XSKT Can Tho with the same number of points and Long An (4 points).

Trung Kien