A Malaysian ex-FIFA referee and referee instructor said Vietnam should not have gotten the penalty in their AFF Cup match against Malaysia, though the red card for the defender was deserved.
Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh, a FIFA referee between 2000 until his retirement in 2011, said he carefully watched the video of the clash between Malaysian defender Azam Azmi and Vietnamese defender Doan Van Hau in the 59th minute of the match in Hanoi.Commenting on Malaysian television channel Astro Arena, he said he divided the situation into two phases: Hau's push that caused Azmi to fall and then the counter-attack by the latter. "When Azmi struck back, the ball was still rolling, and therefore the referee can give Vietnam a penalty according to the rules. But in my opinion, the first thing that needs to be considered is Hau's foul and [only] then Azmi's foul." If the referee thought Azmi had retaliated against Hau, the Malaysian defender deserved a red card, he said. "But the match should have continued with a free kick for Malaysia, not a penalty for Vietnam, because Van Hau pushed Azmi first. "The Malaysian defender struck back unnecessarily, but [it appears] referee Ryuji Sato had ignored Hau's foul."
Salleh, 56, broke into the AFC Elite group of Asia's top referees in 2008. He was on duty at the 2010 World Cup as support official and refereed several matches during the 2011 Asian Cup. After retiring from active refereeing, he worked as a FIFA referee instructor.
Sato has been a FIFA referee since 2009. He has refereed at the Asian Cup, the U-20 World Cup 2015, the FIFA Arab Cup 2021, AFC Champions Leagues, and the 2016 Olympic Games. In this match, he also gave Vietnamese striker Van Toan a second yellow card and failed to spot Hau elbowing his opponents on a few occasions. Despite playing with 10 men, Vietnam won 3-0 to go to the top of group B.
Source: VN Express
