Striker Samson has been suspended for two matches in the 2017 National Cup and V-League.

For assaulting a Ceres (Philippines) player and receiving a red card during the 2017 AFC Cup group stage, Hanoi FC striker Samson has been officially banned for 3 matches by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Disciplinary Committee, instead of the initially planned 4 matches.

Striker Samson (in white, Hanoi FC) will be absent from the Round of 16 match of the National Cup against SLNA on June 4th at My Dinh Stadium. Photo: Anh Hoang

This information was confirmed by Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hoi, president of Hanoi FC, to Tuoi Tre newspaper on the afternoon of May 13th.

Mr. Hoi stated: “In the latest notification sent to Hanoi FC, the AFC Disciplinary Committee announced that, for attacking a Ceres (Philippines) player and receiving a red card, Samson has been suspended for a total of 3 matches and fined $1,000.”

Because Hanoi FC was eliminated early in the group stage of the AFC Cup 2017 and Samson was absent from the final group stage match between Hanoi FC and Felda United (Malaysia) on May 3rd, he will be suspended for an additional two matches in Vietnam's top football leagues in 2017.

Therefore, striker Samson will not be able to play against SLNA in the round of 16 of the national cup on June 4th. Furthermore, he will be forced to miss the rescheduled match of round 11 of the V-League 2017 against XSKT Can Tho on June 9th. Samson's suspension will end after these two matches…”.

According to Mr. Hoi, because the Hang Day Stadium is undergoing comprehensive renovations, Hanoi FC has rented My Dinh Stadium to play matches in the National Cup and the first few matches of the second half of the 2017 V-League season. It is expected that Hanoi FC will return to playing at Hang Day Stadium at the end of September after the stadium's turf renovations are completed.

According to TTO