VietNamNet Bridge – Football is the “king of sports” in Vietnam. Ten years since Vietnam built professional football, violence is now rampant on football grounds.

 
At V-League 2010, referees used 44 red cards (0.24 card per game on average). This year, up to 784 yellow (4.36 cards per game) and 63 red cards (0.34 card per game) were used. However, the number of cards did not fully reflect violence on the football grounds. In the game between Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Khanh Hoa FCs in the 23rd round, three football players had to go to hospital.

 

It is estimated that 15 referees were fiercely protested by players so they had to stop the games. Two referees were attacked by players and they had to be protected by security guards. Five coaches were banned for violent acts. Many football players and coaches insulted or threatened referees with death. Some players were beaten out of the football grounds. Some players asked gangsters to beat their rivals.

 

Nguyen Van Mui, Chair of the National Referee Council, uttered: “In this situation, nobody dares to be football referees.”

 

There are many reasons for violence in football. Football clubs do not equip their players with knowledge and behavior standards on the football grounds. Achievement is most important for football teams, so football clubs allow their players to take every measure to win.

 

V-League organizing board was in vain in preventing violence.

 

While violence rose, quality of football games went down, based on the numbers of audiences. On average, matches at V-League 2011 attracted over 7,300 viewers, around 1,000 spectators less than V-League 2010.

 

Stadiums that are known for the overenthusiasm of local fans, like Lach Tray, Vinh and Binh Duong all had less audiences, around 2,000-4,000 viewers down in comparison with V-League 2010.

 

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