Vietnamese outfit Hanoi FC suffered a 6-2 defeat against Ceres Negros last night, but the scoreline was not the only highlight of the game.
Hanoi found themselves trailing 3-1 by the hour mark and things went from bad to worse for the Vietnamese side when Hoang Vu Samson was shown a direct red card for headbutting a Ceres player.
The Vietnamese striker explained after the match that he was racially abused by the opposition, and apologised to fans for his actions.
“I was disappointed after receiving the red card, it made the situation harder for my teammates,” Samson said in the post-match interview.
“Player #4 of Ceres Negros used racially offensive languages to me after defending a free kick. I came to talk to him and he continued with the foul language.”
“I barely made any contact with him but he was already lying on the ground. The referee sent me off because he could only see the situation from a limited angle,” Samson explained.
“I admitted I let my temper get the better of me. I can only apologize for what I did and hope the fans can forgive me.”
Hanoi FC are currently second in Group G with 8 points after 5 matches and could still proceed to the zonal semi-finals.
The Vietnamese side would need to beat Felda United in the last group stage match on May 3 and hope results elsewhere go their way.