Vietnamese club in trouble after bizarre ‘mannequin’ protest

HANOI: A Vietnamese football team face disciplinary action after allowing their opponents to walk three goals into an unguarded net in protest at the award of a disputed last-minute penalty.

In a sporting revision of “the mannequin challenge”, players from Long An stood stock still and refused to tackle their Ho Chi Minh City rivals in a televised V-League game on Sunday.

The extraordinary protest came after a spot-kick was awarded against Long An for a soft-looking foul on an opposition striker with the game poised at 2-2 and minutes to play.

After a prolonged argument with the referee, Long An’s goalkeeper led the revolt, turning his back on the penalty taker, who slotted the ball into the goal to make it 3-2.

It was the third disputed refereeing decision of the game which led to goals for Ho Chi Minh City.

The visitors continued their protest, refusing to budge from the kick-off to allow Ho Chi Minh City’s players to stride through their ranks to score two more goals.

The game ended 5-2 and Long An have since faced anger from officials in the communist country.

“These actions seriously violated competition rules and are considered non-sporting and uncivilised,” Vietnam’s sports ministry said in an online statement yesterday.

The ministry has asked Vietnam’s Football Federation to “seriously punish” those involved, it added.

Tuoi Tre newspaper yesterday reported that club chairman Vo Thanh Nhiem filed a resignation letter following the scandal.

“Though I did not ask the players to do so, being the head of the club ... I take the responsibility and have resigned,” Nhiem was quoted as saying.

His team remain bottom of the V-League.

The league is Vietnam’s leading professional competition.

But it has a history of alleged matchfixing scandals – while footballers and fans are notorious for their extreme reactions to disputed refereeing decisions. — AFP