The coach of Vietnamese female football team has complained that they were treated unfairly by the referee, leading to their loss of gold medal at the final match of the 2016 AFF Women's Football Champion with Thailand on August 4.

Vietnam lost to Thailand at 2016 AFF Women's Football Champion

The official 90 minutes ended in a 1-1 draw and no one scored in extra time. In the sixth penalty of the shoot-out Vietnamese player Nguyen Thi Lieu seemed to have scored, believing the ball had crossed the line before the goalkeeper clawed it away.

The Myanmar referee Thein Thein Aye recognised the goal at first but was called over by the assistant. After discussion, it was decided that the ball hadn't crossed the goal line.

Coach Mai Duc Chung was displeased with the outcome and said the referees had been unfair toward Vietnam team thorough the matches.

"This is such a regrettable defeat to me and the players," he said.

However, several other Vietnamese referees and players said they agreed with the referee's decision. According to FIFA goal-line rules, the goal is scored only when the ball completely crosses the goal line, it can't straddle the white line in anyway. Slow-motion videos show that the ball hadn’t entirely crossed the line.

Talking with VNExpress, former goalkeeper Nguyen The Anh of Vietnam male team also agreed that it wasn’t a goal.

Talking about the players after the tournament, Chung said the team had improved in experience, playing style and stamina. "Even when we were pressed, we were able to maintain composure and played like we used to do. It kept us from losing stamina," he said.

The team will return to Vietnam on August 6.