The Việt Nam Football Federation’s Referee Committee has decided to ban referee Hà Anh Chiến for life because of his mistake in a recent V.League match.

Chiến gave a free penalty to host FLC Thanh Hóa during the last minutes of a match against Sông Lam Nghệ An on Sunday, which led to a draw result for Thanh Hóa.

He was previously banned until the end of the event’s first leg on June 25.

However, after reviewing the video tape and receiving reports from the match supervisor and the referee team, the committee decided it was a serious mistake that strongly affected the result of the game and the tournament’s ranking.

Head of the committee Nguyễn Văn Mùi said the Hanoian can still work at non-professional tournaments.

Chiến, 40, has been working as a referee for six years, but just joined the V.League two years ago