Former Vietnamese player assaulted referee

In the semi-final match between the two veteran teams on December 22, Sy Manh was given a yellow card for elbowing the opposing defender in the chest. He then tried to explain himself and then stroked referee Pham Van Nguyen’s face, so he received a second yellow card.

Immediately, Sy Manh got angry, rushed forward and kicked referee Nguyen in the hip and punched him in the face. When the referee ran away, he chased after him and punched him despite the efforts of his teammates and security guards.

According to referee Nguyen, when he saw Sy Manh arguing with the opposing player, he reminded him to take his hand off, but the former Thanh Hoa striker still elbowed him, so he received a yellow card.

"I was suddenly hit, but I managed to run and dodge so I was not seriously injured. Therefore, I will not sue Sy Manh, but I am sure the tournament organizers will take action," referee Nguyen continued.

Sy Manh, born in 1984, was a former player of the Vietnam national team in 2009-2010 under coach Henrique Calisto, playing seven matches. He played for many clubs such as Hanoi T&T, The Vissai Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Xuan Thanh Saigon, Hai Phong...

After retiring, he became an assistant coach at Hai Phong Club but was fired for fighting with goalkeeper Dang Van Lam in 2017. At that time, Sy Manh said the reason was because the Vietnamese-American goalkeeper had repeatedly shown rudeness to his seniors on the team.

Referee Pham Van Nguyen is a national referee of the Vietnam Football Federation. He has regularly officiated futsal matches over the past 5 years. Mr. Nguyen was also hit and kicked in the head by a futsal player at the 2021 FI Futsal Championship, causing him to temporarily lose his memory and had to be hospitalized.