VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has announced the results of the best referee poll of the 2013 season, with the Gold Whistle title coming to Nguyen Trong Thu, 34-year-old referee from Da Nang.

Referee Nguyen Trong Thu. (Photo: TN)

Referee Nguyen Trong Thu received 230 points, 30 points more than another bright candidate - Vo Minh Tri. Coming in the third position is Phung Dinh Dung with 163 points. Thu has the highest average point among the referees of the V- League 2013 with 8.74 points.

This is the fifth referee winning this title after Duong Manh Hung (2006), Duong Van Hien (2007, 2008, 2009), Vo Minh Tri (2010) and Vo Quang Vinh (2011, 2012). Thu is also the youngest referee to win the title so far.

At the age of 34, Thu is one of the experienced referees of the V-League. Thu has been assigned to control the most important games of V-League since 2006.

Nguyen Trong Thu is the son of famous former referee Nguyen Van Mui and brother-in-law of referee Vo Quang Vinh, who won the Gold Whistle title twice.

The bonus for the Gold Whistle title is VND30 million ($1,500) and VND20 million and VND 15 million for the title Silver and Bronze Whistle.

In the poll for the best referee assistant title, Pham Manh Long is the winner with 231 points, followed by Tran Thanh Liem with 134 points and Tran Minh Thang with 130 points.

This is the fifth time Pham Manh Long won the Gold Flag title after 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2012.

The award ceremony will be held in HCM City on September 28.

Nam Nguyen