Harsh refereeing regulations for V-League

The sudden passing of former FIFA referee Tran Dinh Thinh on August 4 not only left much regret and pain but also showed the harshness of the football refereeing profession if one wants to participate in the V-League.

High risk of emergency in speed running - Photo: QUANG THINH

Refereeing the top Vietnamese football tournament like V-League is always the goal of those who are passionate about refereeing. Training a national standard referee is a long and arduous process of 5-10 years. To become a FIFA-class referee is even more difficult and fierce.

Race with fate

When the season is about to start, referees and assistants must be disciplined to participate in training courses, focusing on physical fitness tests and professional exams. The physical fitness test according to FIFA regulations is the basic standard, a certificate for a referee to be able to practice in the next 3-4 months of the second half of the season.

In the FIFA fitness test, the referee has two running parts: Sprinting and Interval, in which the Interval part is more physical. The referee will run 75m in 15 seconds, then walk 25m in 18-20 seconds. Repeat this 40 times, covering a total distance of 4,000m. The last part is when the body loses the most energy.

Referee Tran Dinh Thinh fainted at the end of the sprint while trying to complete the distance. Referee Vu Phuc Hoan also fainted in the group of 4 runners and was lucky to make it through. The referees assessed the weather in Hanoi on the morning of August 3 as harsh, everyone had to try harder than they could to finish.

Referees and assistant referees failing the physical fitness test every time is nothing new because it happens every time. However, people dying while running is the problem. 7 years ago, referee Duong Ngoc Tan (from Yen Bai ) also died after a physical fitness test at Hang Day Stadium before the 2018 season.

After passing the physical test, 99% of referees and assistant referees will be assigned tasks by the Vietnam Football Federation and VPF Company. For the majority, referees and assistant referees are "side jobs". Unless they have personal plans or organizational work, referees can take on field duties on weekends.

Former FIFA referee Tran Dinh Thinh - Photo: QUANG THINH

Pressure on V-League referees

If a referee fails to complete the pre-season training, which includes a physical fitness test, he or she will not be eligible to be assigned to a position. No one wants this to happen because it is the passion and also the livelihood of those who pursue the refereeing profession.

It is almost certain that if the referee does not meet the physical standards and is not in good health, he will not be able to pass that extremely difficult physical test. If he is lucky enough to pass, when entering the match, the referee will easily make mistakes and will not have enough strength to run for 90 minutes on the field. On average, in each V-League match, the main referee will run from 8-10km, the speed changes continuously and requires quick and accurate reactions to situations on the field.

The referee is still the center of every match, every step, every whistle is monitored by tens, thousands of people from TV to the stands. If the referee is not in good health, has high professional level, and is not steadfast, then his decisions on the field will hardly be accurate.

The current income of V-League referees is attractive at 8 million VND/90 minutes of main refereeing, 5 million VND/90 minutes of being a 4th referee. FIFA referees and good referees are often given priority to referee many matches and to referee key matches.

There was a period of shortage of people, a good referee could officiate 4 matches/month and earn 32 million VND, not including allowances. The recent increase in remuneration for referees by the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and VPF Company is a source of encouragement and promotion to improve the quality of referees. However, this is really a job that requires health, high professional level, terrible endurance and not everyone can overcome it.

QUANG THINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khac-nghiet-suat-trong-tai-bat-chinh-v-league-20250804184605259.htm