In V.League, in the match between Ho Chi Minh City and Dong A Thanh Hoa, referee Le Vu Linh gave 2 yellow cards to coach Velizar Popov of the away team, in which the second yellow card caused controversy. Meanwhile, in La Liga (Spain), Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham was sent off directly after a duyure with the referee in the match at Osasuna.
Mr. Popov's situation was interpreted as the Bulgarian coach being angry with a student, not aiming at the referee. Therefore, people understand that the penalty card for him is confusing, unreasonable. However, in the course of the incident, the 49-year-old coach kicked a bottle of water, one of the acts under Law 12 - "reacting with words or actions".
The action was not beautiful, affecting the image of the tournament, so even though the anger was not directed at the referee, the free card was still valid. Remember, players' actions (wasting their arms, playing the ball away...) are often rewarded if determined to be "excessive behavior". And the coach is also a factor directly related to the match and tournament. For Bellingham, he explained that he used an oath, not to insult the referee. The referee was criticized for being " fluent in foreign languages", but in the specific context, he just needed to know that it was a slang term, and when the two were talking, it was clearly directed at him. Therefore, the act of withdrawing the red card is very decisive.
Maybe, Real Madrid will appeal - and succeed - but from here, both Bellingham, Mr. Popov and many others need to understand that every game has rules. Do they understand and respect them enough?
Referees are right at times, sometimes wrong at times, coaches, players or anyone are the same. That is the reason why all involved people need to control their emotions. That is courage. An inappropriate statement, an uncontrolled act becomes ugly, enough to be punished according to the law.
If the referee is wrong in other cases, there will be regulations and the law will handle them. Therefore, the criticism also needs to understand the context and root of the problem instead of just looking at the phenomenon...
