Coach Park, facing a potential suspension?
(Baonghean.vn) - It might seem that football at the SEA Games is not part of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) system, leading many to believe that yellow cards in this tournament (and the AFF Cup) would not count towards AFC-organized competitions such as the AFC Cup or the upcoming 2020 AFC U23 Championship. However, the reality is not that simple.
In the past, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Disciplinary Committee has closely monitored these tournaments. On numerous occasions, the organization has issued severe penalties to individuals and teams engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct.
There is already a precedent.
And in fact, Vietnamese football has faced such penalties before. For example, in the second leg of the 2016 AFF Cup semi-final against Indonesia, SLNA goalkeeper Nguyen Manh received a red card for a foul on an opponent.
Subsequently, the AFC imposed a $1,000 fine and a two-match suspension on the goalkeeper born in 1991. As a result, the goalkeeper from Nghe An province was unable to participate with the Vietnamese national team in the first two matches of the 2019 Asian Cup Qualifiers against Afghanistan and Jordan.
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| Coach Park with a yellow card in the match against U22 Cambodia. Photo: VFF |
Regarding this issue, VFF General Secretary Le Hoai Anh stated: "Currently, the VFF has not received any notification from the AFC. The AFC will hold a meeting in the near future. Only then will the final decision be made."
Fans' concerns about the possibility of coach Park Hang-seo receiving a coaching ban from the AFC Disciplinary Committee at the 2020 U23 Asian Championship are not unfounded. With the absence of Van Hau already a disadvantage for the Vietnam U22 team, if Coach Park is not allowed to coach the match against the UAE U23 team, or even the Jordan U23 match, it will create significant difficulties for us.
Coach Park has received three yellow cards in just the last three months. The first occurred in the match against Thailand last September in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Coach Park was quite harsh when center-back Bui Tien Dung was called for a foul in a collision with Chanathip Songkrasin, arguing that Chanathip should have been the one penalized.
Is a reaction necessary?
Coach Park believes that reacting to referees is necessary to prevent his players from receiving unfair calls. “In football, sometimes players get yellow cards, and so do coaches. Assistant Lee and I have experience and know what to do to react to the referee. We must appeal to the referee to protect our players.” In fact, assistant Lee Young-Jin has a hot temper and even received a yellow card before him in the group stage of the 20th SEA Games, such as in the match against Thailand U22, which even made Coach Park laugh in front of the referee.
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| With the red card in the SEA Games 30 final, the image of punishment hangs over Coach Park's head. (Photo: VFF) |
The experience at the Philippines showed that, in addition to being a skilled coach who could read the game and make sharp tactical adjustments, Coach Park was also a source of inspiration for his players. Twice at the SEA Games 30, we were trailing against U22 Indonesia and Thailand, but seeing the Korean coach on the sidelines gave the players more confidence.
Hopefully, next week the AFC Disciplinary Committee will meet and issue a fair and reasonable ruling so that the coaching staff and players of the Vietnam U23 team can stand side-by-side with Coach Park at the 2020 AFC U23 Asian Championship in Thailand.
