In addition to match-fixing complaints involving players, even referees in the top Vietnam football league, the V-League, now also face criticisms about mistakes and decisions made on the field.

The local football scene which is already mired in match-fixing accusations and weak management is now keep testing their fans' patience and trust with new complaints about corrupt referees.

Fans are losing patience and trust in local football scene

During the match between Haiphong and SHB Danang, referee Nguyen Hien Triet pulled out four yellow cards for two Haiphong players. Despite SHB Danang comfortably winning 3-0, a lot of fans thought that the bookings were unfair and after the match, they threw bottles at referee and assistants and surrounded the main stand at the ground to protest at the result. The stadium owners fined for letting the situation got out of control.

In the match between Saigon and SXKT Can Tho, goalkeeper Buu Ngoc of SXKT Can Tho was accused of a two-footed red cardable lunge, but referee Nguyen Trong Thu only gave him a yellow card. Thu was suspended for one match.

Everyone thought Ngoc should have been suspended for whole season due to the dangerous nature of his tackle. In a similar incident Que Ngoc Hai had previously suspended for six months last year for the same offence and paid VND1bn (USD45,400) as compensation. Ngoc was suspended for four matches and paid VND15m because the other player didn't break his leg.

Meanwhile, referee Nguyen Trung Kien realised that he forgot to bring his red card when trying to penalise QNK Quang Nam and after only finding a yellow inside his pocket, ran out to the touchline and got the assistant referee to give him a red card. Despite these shenanigans he only gave the yellow.

The Vietnam Professional Football Company is now planning to hire foreign referees, but has admitted this is only a temporary solution, if there isn’t an improvement in the quality of the personnel then negative reactions from players and fans toward referees or weird mistakes would still happen.

After VFF's chairman Le Hung Dung and vice chairman Tran Quoc Tuan were accused of accepting bribes last year, more and more fans are turning their back on the V-League which is being criticised for corruption and unprofessional referees.