At the 2026 U19 Southeast Asian Championship, U19 Malaysia took a 2-0 lead and in the 60th minute, a tense situation occurred. After a challenge, a U19 Singapore player fouled, causing the opponent to fall to the ground. Immediately after that, Aqasha on the U19 Malaysia side took retaliation by kicking the opponent's player's chest.
The situation took place right in front of the technical area of U19 Singapore, causing the coaching staff of this team to react fiercely. Players of both teams also rushed to argue, causing the match to be interrupted for a few minutes.
However, after the situation stabilized, referee Le Vu Linh only reminded the players involved and did not issue any cards. This decision immediately caused much controversy, especially from U19 Singapore.
Immediately after the controversial situation, U19 Malaysia was awarded a free kick and successfully utilized it to increase the score to 3-0.
Not only the above situation, the match also continued to have controversy in Abid Safaraz's goal to increase the score to 2-0, when many opinions suggested that this player may have fallen offside before scoring. However, the referee and VAR team still recognized the goal.
In the opposite direction, U19 Singapore played more fiercely in the rest of the match and also had some dangerous fouls. At the end of the match, player number 14 of this team received a yellow card after a tackle with his studs.
Referee Le Vu Linh is currently one of the FIFA referees of Vietnam. In the V.League, he has officiated many matches and also made some controversial decisions, including the match between Ho Chi Minh City and Thanh Hoa in the 2024-2025 season, which was later determined to have professional errors.
The match closed with a 3-0 victory for U19 Malaysia, but controversies related to refereeing work are still a topic of public concern.
