On the sidelines of the Vietnam Sports Economic Forum 2024, Mr. Tran Anh Tu - Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company - said: "The last 4 rounds of V.League had a very big problem, which was time-wasting. The players wasted too much time, the ball rolled on the field too little, reducing the quality of the match.
We will meet with the referees and make sure that there is enough extra time, that players pretend to be injured, and that violence is eliminated. There were many situations where the referees did not show red cards.
According to the Vice President of VFF, improving the quality of matches is an important factor to increase the value of the tournament in particular and Vietnamese football in general.
Over the years, VPF and the clubs have made many positive changes, improving their image, communication and the quality of the tournament. However, with each round, problems with organization, refereeing and violent football still appear, affecting the image of V.League.
A typical example is the match between Hanoi Police and Binh Duong in round 3 of V.League, player Giap Tuan Duong jumped up and stepped on the ankle of foreign player Alisherovich with both feet.
Referee Le Vu Linh spent a lot of time consulting VAR, but he only gave Tuan Duong a yellow card. After that, the VFF Disciplinary Board issued an additional penalty, banning the Hanoi Police player from playing in the next two matches.
In the 4th round of V.League, midfielder Mac Hong Quan of Binh Dinh FC also had a rough tackle with both feet on Thai Son of Thanh Hoa. The player born in 1992 received a red card and left the field.
In addition, in this match, the referee's management of the match also caused controversy. In the match between Da Nang and Hoang Anh Gia Lai at Hoa Xuan Stadium, referee Tran Ngoc Anh recognized Jairo Rodrigues' goal at the end of the first half. Before that, the ball may have touched the hand of the away team's center back Ly Duc.
The newly updated FIFA football rules clearly state that if the ball touches the hand of a player of the scoring team before the goal occurs, the goal is a foul. The main referee consulted VAR technology and made the decision to recognize the goal for Hoang Anh Gia Lai, which later received many mixed opinions.
