Violence Returns to V-League 2026: Off-Ball Fouls and the Discipline Question

On an empty pitch, the sound of the ball rolling is louder than ever. On the opening day of V-League 2026, Đoàn Văn Hậu's two-footed challenge on Doãn Ngọc Tân not only broke the Thể Công Viettel player's leg but also sent a shock through the whole league. Less than a week later, in round 3, two malicious fouls aimed at Đình Bắc in the match between CAHN and Đồng Nai made fans ask whether the old habits once pushed back by VAR were returning. Looking back at the last three seasons, VAR has created a quiet revolution. Players know they are being watched, so they compete more carefully. The number of brutal challenges dropped noticeably, and the national team benefited from a cleaner disciplinary image in regional competitions. Yet the latest round has exposed a blind spot: fouls committed behind the referee, behind the cameras, can still slip through the net of technology. That season, only the sound of the ball rolling in an empty pitch told us about our own fears. The match between Công an Hà Nội Club (CAHN) and Đồng Nai Club on September 20, 2026 is a clear example. Đồng Nai were three goals down and had to play with ten men. In such moments, referees tend to go easy on the losing side. That leniency creates room for reckless challenges. Lê Văn Sơn used an elbow against Đình Bắc. Huỳnh Tấn Sinh delivered a cold kick behind the referee's back, yet received only a yellow card. If the referee had acted firmly from the first foul, would that cold kick have happened? Expert Đoàn Minh Xương calls these actions “superfluous tackles.” He points out that a player who can no longer stay calm becomes more dangerous the longer he remains on the pitch. Deterrence in football does not stop at a red card. A malicious challenge ignored by the referee becomes a precedent. Conversely, a well-timed harsh sanction can make an entire team think twice before lunging in. Even more worrying is the targeting of Đình Bắc. The young CAHN attacker was fouled twice in the same match by two different players. There is no data proving it was a plan from Đồng Nai's coaching staff, but the pattern is familiar: a weaker team uses rough tactics to stop the opponent's attacking star. V-League history has already paid a heavy price. Trần Anh Khoa of SHB Đà Nẵng almost never returned to top form after his injury. Anh Hùng of An Giang in 2026 and Hoàng Vũ Samson of Hà Nội FC were also victims of on-pitch violence. Without proper protection, young talents may pay with their careers. The problem does not stop with the players. Referee Lê Vũ Linh is under heavy scrutiny for showing only a yellow card to Huỳnh Tấn Sinh. The VAR crew, Võ Hoài Thương and Nguyễn Thành Sơn, are also being reviewed for failing to intervene. In the VAR era, referees are no longer the only ones responsible. But when technology is not used consistently, players lose trust in officials. And when trust is lost, they take matters into their own hands. A VAR cultural gap is emerging. Đồng Nai have just returned to the V-League from the First Division, where VAR is not fully applied. Ezequiel Santos Da Silva is playing in the V-League for the first time with Nam Định Club. Both come from environments with different levels of control. Nobody uses this as an excuse, but it should be acknowledged that players who are not used to cameras tend to repeat old habits. If clubs do not prepare new signings and foreign players with VAR knowledge, similar incidents will happen again. In the dressing room, stories about discipline never start with tactics. A player does not grow because of tactics; he grows because of the dressing-room walls that know how to keep secrets. The way a team handles internal violations shapes behaviour on the pitch. For Đoàn Văn Hậu, the dangerous challenge on the opening day was analysed as an old habit. For Đồng Nai players or Ezequiel, the story leaned toward a lack of awareness. That difference creates a double standard. But football does not distinguish reputations once the ball is rolling. A malicious challenge is still a malicious challenge, no matter who commits it. Media and social networks are playing a double role. On one hand, the repeated replay of violent clips puts pressure on disciplinary committees to act. On the other hand, that same virality can distort the image of the league. Media expert Dương Vũ Lâm says ugly plays are repeated quickly and often in the press, leaving disciplinary bodies almost unable to stand aside. That is an accountability mechanism, but also a double-edged sword. If punishments are driven by how viral a clip is, instead of by regulation, injustice will appear between cases with different online reach. The workload of the VFF Disciplinary Committee is not small. On September 20, 2026, the match between CAHN and Đồng Nai ended with a heavy defeat. The very next day, September 21, 2026, the VFF held an emergency meeting. That speed of response shows how serious the case is. The list of situations to review is long: Doãn Ngọc Tân's broken leg, Ezequiel's stamp, two fouls against Đình Bắc, Huỳnh Tấn Sinh's cold kick. Every situation has video. Every video is replayed over and over. And every replay adds more pressure to the decision-makers. However, we should keep some distance from the wave of anger. Two rounds of data are not enough to conclude that Vietnamese football is regressing. These malicious fouls may be exceptions amplified by social media algorithms. If we focus only on two clips, we see the whole season through a distorted lens. Based on my experience following matches, fouls behind the referee have always existed in Vietnamese football. VAR reduces them, but does not eliminate them. So we should wait for end-of-period statistics before declaring that violence has returned. What matters more is looking at the structure that creates violence. Promoted clubs like Đồng Nai usually have thinner resources and less experience in the V-League. Teams like CAHN and Nam Định are deeper and better invested. This imbalance does not justify bad behaviour, but it explains why weaker teams often lose control when they are heavily behind. If the gap is not narrowed and procedures are not standardised, sanctions are only a temporary fix. Vietnamese football once built the image of a disciplined collective thanks to VAR. Recent regional success is linked to the story of smarter, cleaner players. A violent incident in the V-League cannot erase that achievement, but it can erode trust. Regional rivals will look at these clips when judging Vietnamese football. Therefore, this sanction cannot be seen as a private matter for one individual. It is a message about the direction the V-League wants to take. A stadium without fans is not empty – there are still hearts beating in the same rhythm. Fans are waiting for the outcome of the emergency meeting on September 21, 2026. They do not need promises; they need concrete, transparent sanctions strong enough to deter. The biggest question is not whether Huỳnh Tấn Sinh will be suspended. The biggest question is whether fouls behind the referee still have a place in Vietnamese football. The dressing room does not lie – every whisper becomes an echo. And this echo is talking about a line the V-League cannot afford to cross.