Thursday night’s V.League 1 match between Viettel FC and Hong Linh Ha Tinh at the Hang Day Stadium marked a historic occasion for the league as for the first time ever, video assistant referee (VAR) is being used in a Vietnamese top-flight game.
The implementation of VAR in Thursday’s game meant that the V.League 1 became the third Southeast Asian league to implement such technology after the Thai League 1 and the Singapore Premier League.
In preparation for VAR implementation throughout V.League 1 matches, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) have done months of preparations beforehand, training referees and their assistants in utilizing VAR as well as overcoming infrastructural challenges by implementing a mobile VAR system. As stadiums in Vietnam are still inadequate to be installed with VAR rooms, the VFF have resorted to utilizing specifically-built minibuses containing relevant VAR technology, where match footage would be relayed to be assessed before being sent back to the stadium. Certified by FIFA, the VFF have four of such minivans – two that they procured by themselves and the other two being provided to them by FIFA.
As for the match itself, it was a very straightforward win for a dominant Viettel side.
Former Nakhon Pathom United attacker Mohamed Essam opened the scoring in the 12th minute, before Nguyen Hoang Duc grabbed himself a brace in the 69th and 90th minute to give Viettel a dominant lead.
Then history was made late into injury time.
Ha Tinh defender Janclesio Almeida was adjudged to have fouled Viettel’s young attacker Tran Danh Trung within the area. The referee had to check the footage of the foul through VAR before finally awarding Viettel a penalty, which was successfully taken by Nguyen Duc Chien.
With the success of Thursday’s VAR implementation, said technology will be used in select matches throughout the remainder of the 2023 V.League 1 campaign.