Hanoi, 2 February 2026 – Spanish head coach Gerard Albadalejo of Ninh Binh FC has been fined VND 10 million and suspended for two matches after banging the table and verbally attacking the referee following his team’s 2-3 defeat to Hanoi Police FC in Round 12 of the LPBank V.League 1 2025/26 season.
On the afternoon of February 2, the disciplinary committee of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) convened to review several incidents from the latest round and issued official sanctions.
Specifically, Albadalejo was handed a VND 10 million fine and banned from the technical area for two consecutive matches. As a result, he will miss Ninh Binh’s upcoming home game against Hoang Anh Gia Lai at 18:00 on February 7. His second suspension match will be confirmed once the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) releases the updated schedule after the Lunar New Year break.
The VFF disciplinary panel stated that the Spanish coach’s behavior and comments negatively affected the image of the league and Vietnamese football overall.
During the post-match press conference, Albadalejo openly expressed his anger, criticizing Malaysian referee Razlan Joffri Bin Ali.
“When I read the official announcement that a Malaysian referee would take charge, I already knew something like this would happen,” he said. “That referee ruined the match. I simply cannot imagine someone officiating in Vietnam’s top league making such confusing decisions.”
“For a game like this, a Vietnamese referee would absolutely deserve to be in charge and would be capable of doing the job. Vietnamese referees deserve to handle matches like this more than a Malaysian referee. Why come here just to disadvantage us? I really don’t understand.”
His strong remarks came after a heated match that saw Ninh Binh surrender a narrow 2-3 loss, a result that significantly impacted their standings.
In a separate decision, the VFF also fined The Cong Viettel FC VND 20 million for repeatedly entering the field late at the start of each half in their match against Hai Phong. The federation stressed that the repeated offense disrupted match organization despite prior warnings and penalties.
The disciplinary actions underline the VFF’s effort to maintain professionalism and protect the reputation of the V.League 1.
VSN collaborator writer
Leave a Reply