LookAtVietnam – Seven rounds of the national V-League and First Division have been held so far this year yet there have been several mistakes made by referees. Duong Nghiep Khoi, deputy head of the V-League Organising Committee discusses the problem.

Duong Nghiep Khoi. (Photo: Vietbao)

That said, the number of mistakes made by referees seems high. What do you think?

When matches do not go their way, some club officials complain and moan. But these complaints are not justified. Complaints by the HCM City team about their match with Thanh Hoa and by Vinakansai Ninh Binh in their match against Hoa Phat Ha Noi were wrong.

People who are involved in football must accept mistakes will be made. They cannot expect everything to always be perfect. However, when serious mistakes are made, referees will be fined by the Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF)’s Referees Council and tournament organisers.

I can say that the rate [so far this year] is not high. There were 14 matches per week, which means there were 98 matches played after seven rounds. Just seven mistakes by referees were made. Do you think that is high? Clearly, no.

Most referees’ decisions seem to benefit the host teams. Do you think that there is a problem here?

It is difficult to give a red card to host players but our referees do. For example, in the match between Becamex Binh Duong and Hai Phong Cement, Binh Duong were the hosts. They won the match with only nine men.

Furthermore, I have never received a complaint that a referee was biased towards the host team.

Most of the complaints were directed towards the referee’s assistants who have to deal with the sensitive off-side rule. The rule is now quite different to that used in the past. Sometimes, they have to act quickly, and people are unclear about it.

The media have accused the VFF of only acting after journalists started complaining. What do you think?

That is not true. We receive reports from supervisors after each match. If there are complaints about referees we look into them and act accordingly.

We watch video tapes of matches every week to see how they were refereed.

Tournament organisers have done a good job stamping out match fixing and bribery. Have police officials been assigned to look into the matter as before?

Every year we ask the Ministry of Security to co-operate with us.

They send two officials, who are members of the VFF’s Security Board. Their duty is to ensure security at all matches and to look into allegations of match fixing and bribery.

After each round, we send them a report. The report includes match results, our comments and predictions for the next round.

Two weeks ago, we had a meeting with these officials and they said they appreciated our efforts.

Does the VFF plan to make impromptu inspections of referees’ mobile phones ahead of games, as in the past?

I don’t think it is necessary any more. It will negatively affect referees’ confidence and might adversely affect their performance. Honestly, if a referee is intent on taking bribes cheap mobile phones are always available. But the police can do so if they think it is necessary.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News