Already tainted, the public image of Vietnamese football referees has been worsened after certain member of the Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) referee board accused another member of embezzlement.
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| Bui Nhu Duc (left) accused Dang Thanh Ha of embezzlement |
Bui Nhu Duc, member of VPF referee board, has just accused Dang Thanh Ha of embezzlement, providing evidence for the alleged misconduct.
According to regulation, any referee working in the Vietnamese First Division, Second Division and V-league at the same time should only receive a daily stipend from the highest league. But Ha listed and received per diems from three separate leagues.
The head of the referee board of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), the country’s football governing body, Duong Vu Lam, said, "After we heard about the accusation we looked into the matter and found that Ha was at fault. But we are still waiting for the results of a more comprehensive investigation. We will release the results of that investigation to the public, including a detailed report of his offences and punishment. If the offences are found to be serious enough, he may be dismissed from the VPF referee board and banned from refereeing."
Lam said that it was still undetermined whether the miscalculations were Ha's mistake or that of other referees.
The case got more complicated on March 26, when the referee supervisor, Duong Van Hien, received a number of phone calls asking why he had provided the incriminating documents to Duc. Hien claimed that he had nothing to do with the case.
"I was surprised. Why would people go after the accuser instead of dealing with the offender?" Duc said. He added that he resigned after his 12-year tenure.
The referee board has generally not done a good job of keeping public trust in recent years; a situation that is not helped when one member accuses another of crimes.
Tran Song Hai, Vice Chair of the Vietnam Football Fans' Association said, "We need to make some changes to the referee board if we are serious about improving the image of domestic football."
