FIFA pro referee makes big league game error

In the 33rd minute of the game on Sunday, Hanoi FC defender Do Duy Manh stepped on the foot of Hoang Anh Gia Lai forward Bruno Henrique inside the box. Referee Lan got a comfortable view of the situation but still let the game continue without handing HAGL a penalty. In the second half, Hanoi scored two goals while HAGL only got one, suffering a 1-2 defeat.

If Lan made the right call and gave HAGL a penalty in the first half, the game would have gone in a different direction. Duy Manh would have scored the second yellow and put Hanoi down to 10 men.

“The referee missed this situation and this is a mistake,” Duong Van Hien, head of Vietnam Football Federation’s Referee Department, said Monday.

“After the game, I called referee Lan and he admitted the mistake. He said it’s because the two players were wearing white boots and the situation happened too fast for him to catch. It’s quite unfortunate.”

Hanoi FC vs. HAGL is the highlight match of round 12 in the 2022 V. League, therefore Hien arranged the best FIFA referee for the game, but still he couldn’t avoid mistakes.

Hien once again suggested the use of VAR to improve refereeing in the league.

“We have proposed to use VAR in V. League several times with the organizers but still nothing has been approved,” Hien said.

With the win against HAGL, Hanoi remained on top of the V. League table with 26 points, six more than second-placed SLNA.