Nguyễn Xuân Nam (right) has been banned for four matches after a nasty dugout fight with opponent Vũ Văn Sơn in the match between PVF-CAND and HCMC Youth FC. — Photo tuoitre.vn

Anh Đức

Last Thursday in the match between PVF-CAND and Hồ Chí Minh City Youth FC in the V.League 2, blood were shed, but not on the field nor from a nasty challenge, but in a dugout fight where chaos reigns supreme, making everything not what it seems.

In a fierce competition between the two teams vying for a promotion spot, an HCMC Youth player went down with an injury, and his teammates kicked the ball out to allow for treatment. However, despite the fair play norms, PVF-CAND did not return the ball to HCMC Youth.

Vũ Văn Sơn, HCMC Youth's defender, was irritated by this action and asked Nguyễn Xuân Nam, PVF's striker, for an answer. Nam did not reply, and instead personally insulted Sơn, and even goaded Sơn to confront him outside the Thống Nhất Stadium after the match.

Nam and Sơn got the fracas they wanted when both teams went to the tunnel after the final whistle. According to the stadium's security camera footage, the PVF striker went face-to-face with Sơn, whispered something and Nam immediately pulled a powerful right hook onto Nam's face. Nam replied by hitting Sơn on the head with his boots before both sets of players and Thống Nhất's security detail interfered to separate the two hotheads.

PVF-CAND's social media sites immediately posted a picture of a bloodied Nam with the caption "Our player, Nguyễn Xuân Nam, was assaulted by an opposition player after the match, right in front of the visitor's locker room."

The image sparked conversation and curiosity among football fans and continued the weekly series of Vietnamese football dramas.

But when security footage was leaked showing that Nam instigated the fight, sympathy for the striker soon turned into ridicule and criticism.

In a further interview by Sơn with the Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper, Sơn said that Nam verbally insulted his family, but the defender did not 'do a Zidane' and retaliated, and instead carried on with the match.

"I was not wrong," said Sơn in the interview.

However, there is a law for every game and there are consequences for any actions. Both Sơn and Nam were banned for four matches and were fined VNĐ20 million (US$790) each for physical violence and abuse according to the VFF's Disciplinary Code.

HCMC Youth lodged an appeal to the VPF for Sơn's case, believing that their player did not do anything wrong.

Apart from pulling that Tyson-esque punch onto his opponent, I agree with HCMC Youth: Sơn did nothing wrong.

Had Sơn kept the calm demeanor that he had been doing during the 90 minutes in the dugout, he would not have been disciplined, and this week's column might have a different topic. — VNS