Head of the National Referee Board: 'Referee Chien was wrong and will be severely punished'

Head of the National Referee Board Nguyen Van Mui affirmed: “Referee Ha Anh Chien was wrong in the penalty situation in the match between FLC Thanh Hoa and SLNA. Certainly, a separate penalty will be given.”

In the 90th minute at Thanh Hoa Stadium, referee Ha Anh Chien pointed to the penalty spot after defender Dinh Hoang fouled Pape Omar. It is worth mentioning that the foul was committed quite far from the penalty area, but referee Ha Anh Chien still awarded the home team a penalty.

Coach Ngo Quang Truong rushed onto the field to protest against the referee and was disqualified. Photo: VSI

Immediately, all the players and coaching staff of SLNA, especially coach Ngo Quang Truong, strongly protested this decision, and at the same time called the players to leave the field with the intention of not playing anymore. The match almost broke down and after the intervention of the organizing committee and officials of the tournament's Organizing Committee, the away team players returned to the field.

Watching the match on television, Head of the National Sports Committee Nguyen Van Mui confirmed that it was a serious mistake by the referee. “There will definitely be a penalty. Ha Anh Chien will have to rest, but how many matches he will miss will depend on the Sports Committee examining the tape and determining the severity before making a penalty decision. However, we cannot announce the penalty because according to FIFA regulations, the Sports Committee will consider and report to the VFF, but will not announce it to the outside.

As for SLNA’s reaction, of course it will be dealt with. Whoever is wrong will have to bear the consequences. If the referee is wrong, the referee will have to bear the consequences, and if the team is wrong, the team will have to bear the consequences,” Mr. Mui added.

Once again, the “Black Shirt Kings” have had unimaginable situations of blowing penalties, raising the issue of ideology in this team of judges. According to Mr. Mui, it is very difficult to control this issue and currently there is no basis or evidence to talk about this.

“From a professional perspective, it is clear that referee Ha Anh Chien made a serious mistake. In a favorable situation and observation position, he made an incorrect decision. The referee's mistake could be due to many different reasons, such as an unstable mentality. As for the relationship between the referee and the team, no one has discovered it yet. There is always a security department monitoring this issue. I reaffirm that professionally, the referee was clearly wrong and was severely punished, but no one has checked any other issues. It is impossible to conclude that it is a matter of ideology here because there is no evidence or basis,” said Mr. Mui.

In an interview after the match, coach Hoang Thanh Tung of FLC Thanh Hoa said: “Many positions of FLC Thanh Hoa did not play well and made many mistakes. We also lacked many key players, so our gameplay was significantly affected. As for the penalty at the end of the match, we are in the coaching position so we cannot have a better perspective than the referee.”

At the post-match press conference, coach Ngo Quang Truong was indignant: “SLNA players played well, beautifully and dedicatedly, but the referee ruined this match by imagining a penalty for the home team. The efforts of SLNA players were unjustly taken away.”

After the match, many SLNA players were still upset and continuously protested against the referee team controlling this match.

Once again, the referee's mistakes have stirred up public opinion and confused the spirit of the teams participating in the game. Obviously, the number of penalty cards as well as the frequency of mistakes has increased dramatically, making public opinion doubt the quality and mental state of the referee. If the Organizing Committee does not promptly correct the situation, the risk of the tournament falling into a state of crisis because of the refereeing team is very high.

According to Thethaovanhoa