VFF speaks out about the threat of "fighting each other" by VPF leaders and the Referee Board

VFF's press release stated: "On May 15, 2018, the VFF Inspection Committee held a meeting chaired by Head of the Committee Nguyen Nam Hung to review some information that needed to be clarified regarding the management of the national professional football tournament and referees controlling the matches.

At the end of the meeting, there was a lack of restraint between Mr. Tran Manh Hung and Mr. Duong Van Hien. Afterwards, the recording of the meeting was spread on the media, causing public outrage.

VPF Vice President Tran Manh Hung (right).

The President of the Vietnam Football Federation has reminded relevant parties and requested the Inspection Committee to urgently carry out the next steps to handle the case in accordance with regulations."

Speaking to the press today, VFF General Secretary Le Hoai Anh said: "In my opinion, the VPF Board of Directors needs to have a meeting to remind Mr. Hung not to use such unrestrained and unstandard words in an official meeting."

"I am not saying that Mr. Hien was the one who released this recording, but it is not appropriate for Mr. Hien to record the meeting content, because from the beginning, everyone agreed that this was an internal meeting, and that the information would not be published. In any organization, not everything can be reported in the newspaper, but information appearing in the media must be selective and have appropriate content," said Mr. Le Hoai Anh.

Previously, a recording of a meeting between VFF and VPF leaders with many vulgar words was leaked and has been spreading rapidly on social networks since May 18.

This tape was recorded at the end of the meeting between VFF and VPF leaders on the afternoon of May 15 at the Vietnam Football Federation headquarters in Hanoi. Key leaders attending the meeting included VPF President Tran Anh Tu and Vice President Tran Manh Hung, VFF Secretary General Le Hoai Anh, Head of the Referee Committee Nguyen Van Mui and Deputy Head of the Committee Duong Van Hien.

Notably, as soon as he learned that Mr. Hien had recorded the meeting, Mr. Hung became angry and continuously cursed the other party and threatened to “send his men to his house”. There were also vulgar and obscene curses. The latter part of the recording was an argument between the two sides. The audio in the tape showed that many people had to stop Mr. Hung to avoid more extreme actions.