The incident originated from a situation in the 40th minute of the match at Hoa Xuan Stadium between Quang Nam and Song Lam Nghe An on the evening of November 15, when striker Ngan Van Dai of Quang Nam was tackled and fell in the penalty area.
Referee Nguyen Manh Hai immediately blew the whistle and awarded Quang Nam a penalty. However, after VAR intervened, referee Manh Hai canceled the penalty.
This decision made coach Van Sy Son of Quang Nam team angry and he reacted strongly to the referee team in charge of the match. Mr. Son said that if the referee had not blown the whistle, striker Samson would have had the opportunity to score an equalizer for Quang Nam in a comfortable position in front of an empty goal.
Even though the players returned to the game, Mr. Son still reacted violently on the sidelines. He even waved his hands to call on the players to leave the field and not continue playing.
The match supervisor and players tried to intervene but the situation did not improve. In response to Mr. Son's harsh reactions, referee Nguyen Manh Hai gave a yellow card and then a red card, expelling the "captain" of Quang Nam.
In the second half, Quang Nam continued to face disadvantages with VAR. In the 58th minute, this team was awarded a penalty. But like last time, referee Manh Hai, after consulting VAR, "blows the whistle" to cancel Quang Nam's penalty.
Quang Nam then continued to play hard and equalized 1-1 in the 75th minute thanks to Henrique. 1-1 was also the final score of the match.
At the press conference after the match, assistant Cao Sy Cuong of Quang Nam expressed his frustration with the refereeing (coach Van Sy Son did not attend the press conference due to being stripped of his coaching rights).
Mr. Cuong said: "Quang Nam played hard and created many opportunities. We don't understand how the referee made the call. We have to ask the organizers again, under what rule the referee blew the whistle when the ball is in the attacking player's feet before the goal.
Then the referee looked at VAR and blew the whistle, not giving us a penalty or an advantage. In an offside situation, the referee can let the player finish the situation, the ball can be kicked in, but then he looks at VAR and decides. Every match the referee likes to blow the whistle to give a penalty, then looks at VAR and blows the whistle again, why?
This situation cannot be allowed to continue. I don't know if it's unusual or not, but the referee's decision to call that situation is unacceptable."
