V.League 2019: Still a matter of referees

Looking at chicken, becoming a country

Many Thai and Korean reporters were present at Plei-ku Stadium to watch the home match between HAGL and Saigon FC in round 3 of V-League and witnessed HAGL lose painfully 1-3 to Saigon FC.

The team from the Mountain City and their fans believe that they did not deserve to lose if the referee did not make wrong decisions. The “highlight” was that two times Saigon FC players let the ball touch their hands in the penalty area, but referee Nguyen Ngoc Chau refused to award a penalty.

The ball was clearly touching the hand but Golden Whistle 2016 Ngoc Chau signaled that the ball only touched Duy Loi's shoulder joint. Photo cut from clip

Mr. Duong Minh Ninh - Coach of HAGL complained: "I think the referee saw the situation. It was clear that the ball touched the hand of a Saigon player in the penalty area but the referee did not give us a penalty."

First of all, it must be affirmed that both situations of the ball touching Cao Van Tien and Trinh Duy Loi of the away team. According to the law, the referee completely made the judgment that the Saigon defender closed his hand and was passive in this situation to make the decision, the teams are exempt from lawsuits.

But it is hard to understand that the 2016 Golden Whistle referee Ngoc Chau stood quite close to the situation where the ball only touched Duy Loi’s shoulder joint and gave HAGL a corner kick. Having just had a health check before the tournament started, referee Chau “looked at the chicken as a country” and really needs to be reviewed!

Not by law, shy card

In the derby at Hang Day Stadium, at the end of the match, Viettel foreign player Joao Paulo failed to take a penalty kick because he was blocked by goalkeeper Van Cong. But in this situation, the goalkeeper of Hanoi FC violated the rules because he did not stand right in the middle of the goal line but moved up about 1 meter from the goal line when the Viettel player had not yet kicked the ball.

This incident was clearly seen by all the spectators at Hang Day Stadium, except for the main referee who was standing very close (??!), for some reason. Not to mention the fact that the players of both teams rushed into the 16.5m area before Joao Paulo took the free kick.

According to the law, Viettel should have retaken the penalty kick, but referee Dinh Thinh did not recognize Van Cong's mistake. Many people think that the referee did not know the law, and the story of referees not knowing the football law happens every year in V.League and there is no telling when it will end.

After this situation, Mr. Dinh Thinh only gave a yellow card instead of a red card for Que Ngoc Hai's tackle on Van Kien of Hanoi FC. A situation that happened on Hanoi's field, when the game was already decided, did not necessarily have to be so malicious. But in the end, national captain Que Ngoc Hai gave his fellow countryman a very brutal kick with the sole of his shoe.

According to the law, Viettel should have been allowed to retake the penalty kick, but referee Dinh Thinh did not recognize goalkeeper Van Cong's mistake. Photo cut from clip

Speaking to the press after the match, coach Chu Dinh Nghiem was indignant: "Que Ngoc Hai deserved a red card. Van Kien's knees clearly had four stud marks and were covered in blood." Viettel's leaders, after reviewing the slow-motion replay, also gave Que Ngoc Hai an additional penalty, but the referee, who was on the field, did not notice.

"The Arbitration Board's viewpoint is to say wrong when wrong, right when right, not to cover up for the referee" - Head of the Arbitration Board Duong Van Hien affirmed. Many journalists following the V.League said that according to the "process", the Arbitration Board will soon "dissect the tape" and review the referee supervisor's report to decide on the referee's punishment. There will be strict, secret discipline, like "how wrong, punish accordingly".

In fact, fans are not too concerned about how the Referee Board will handle referees' mistakes. What fans are concerned about is minimizing mistakes like "not knowing the rules" or making strange comments like we just mentioned.

The referees' "card-giving" in the event of rough play puts national players at a disadvantage when competing in international tournaments, where regional and continental football leaders are more strict.

Up to this point, the Referee Board has not yet issued any punishment for the kings of the field. After 3 rounds, no referee has been suspended or flagged for mistakes that affected the outcome of the match, but that does not mean that "the sea is calm and the waves are calm".