How did referee Van Lap go wrong?

Dark Spots of the Past

First of all, this is not the first time Mr. Lap has made a mistake that led to a “whistle-blowing” in his career. Last season, the match between Long An and FLC Thanh Hoa almost fell apart because of the “whistle-blowing” of this referee.

In the 65th minute of the match between Long An and FLC Thanh Hoa in round 23 of V.League 2017, when foreign player Wander Luiz scored the equalizer 1-1 for Long An, assistant referee Nguyen Lam Minh Dang did not raise the offside flag, then stepped forward to the middle of the field as a way to acknowledge the valid goal. Main referee Tran Van Lap signaled to acknowledge the goal, until FLC Thanh Hoa players came to react violently. Only then did referee Van Lap come to consult with assistant Minh Dang and decide to "blow the whistle"!

After the above incident, former goalkeeper of An Giang team, Phan Truong An, also "exposed" referee Tran Van Lap for his blatant bias and "false refereeing" in the 2011-2012 First Division tournament to force An Giang to lose to Nam Dinh.

Referee Van Lap is facing strong backlash from fans. Photo: Internet

In fact, it is difficult to accuse referee Van Lap of “forcing” B.Binh Duong in this match when he imagined a penalty for the home team and wrongly sent off player Duong Van Khoa of Quang Ninh. If he had forced the home team, he would not have acted like that, in fact both teams were victims of the weaknesses of the entire refereeing team.

But it must be affirmed that the referee team made a serious mistake in their working method. According to the regulations, when the main referee gives a yellow card, in addition to the main referee Van Lap, assistants Nguyen Lam Minh Dang, Cao Thanh Tu, and fourth referee Nguyen Trong Thu must write down the name of the player who committed the foul.

During the match, when giving yellow cards to the next players, the referee team must check to see if this player has ever been given a yellow card. If the main referee forgets, he will immediately remind them (the referees and assistants all wear headphones). The second yellow card of Ho Tan Tai in the extra time, the entire referee team at Go Dau stadium was subjective, ignored this important task, and did not check again.

"Break the whistle" because I was wrong

The incident only came to light when, sitting in the stands, right after Tien Linh's goal, referee supervisor Pham Chu Thien went down to the field to inform the referee Nguyen Trong Thu about this irony. According to the FIFA Laws of the Game: "The referee can change his decision if he finds that the decision is incorrect or handle it according to the assistant's judgment when the match has not restarted or ended." That is, referee Van Lap can and has the right to change his decision to recognize the goal.

However, whether the referee changes his decision or not must comply with FIFA regulations: "A goal is valid when the ball has completely passed over the goal line between the two goalposts and under the crossbar, provided that no previous violations of the law have occurred."

Although he received a second yellow card, referee Van Lap did not issue a red card, so Ho Tan Tai continued to play and did not leave the field, which is allowed by the rules. Disqualifying a player is understood to be the referee's responsibility, not the player's responsibility on the field. Mr. Lap applied the "I blew the whistle, not recognizing the goal because I had previously violated the rules" - truly a comedy on the field.

The decisions of the referees on the field are raising concerns about the ability of the "black shirt kings" of Vietnamese football. Photo: Internet

It is believed that the supervisor and the referee team “blow the whistle” to prevent the visiting team Than Quang Ninh from reacting strongly to the rare and silly mistakes of the kings of the field. But they continued to make mistakes in their methods, when they blew the whistle to end the match early, without any clear signs for the audience at Go Dau Stadium and TV viewers to know their decisions. It has been a long time since there was a match where the audience had to rely on the loudspeaker to know the score, and the TV viewers were confused and did not understand what had happened.

Long An audiences told us that not only referee Van Lap but also the pair Van Lap - Nguyen Lam Minh Dang (assistant) continuously "broke the whistle" in 2 consecutive seasons. The 4th referee Nguyen Trong Thu was involved in a much more serious scandal, typically the "collective freeze" of the Long An team last season, also because this referee was the referee.

With such systematic and continuous mistakes, why they are still present to run the V-League, only the Referee Board and VPF can answer. As for how many referees have the ability, qualifications and courage like Referee Lap, no one can answer. Regardless of the season, the Referee Board always gives compliments to the kings of the field and when an incident occurs, they "don't understand what happened".

In fact, referee Tran Van Lap is not an “experienced person” as the Deputy Head of the Referee Board, Duong Van Hien, insisted after the violations. If it is true as the referee boss said, Mr. Lap is an experienced referee but still blows like that, it is even more alarming for the team of referees in Vietnam.