Why didn’t the Vietnam women’s national team file a complaint about the wrongly disallowed offside goal in the 2025 SEA Games final?

The incident where Bích Thùy was unfairly called offside in the Vietnam – Philippines match angered many fans. However, the Vietnam women’s team was unable to and had no valid reason to file a complaint.

The Vietnam women’s team could not immediately appeal

This is due to the international football regulations and the SEA Games operational system. First, FIFA rules state that all referee decisions in a match—ranging from offside, penalties to ordinary fouls—are final. Referee mistakes, no matter how clear, are classified as “judgment errors,” and the match result cannot be changed just because a team protests or appeals. Organizers or authorities may review video footage only to assess referee quality or issue internal warnings, but they do not interfere with the match result.

Another important factor is that SEA Games 2025 did not use VAR. If this technology had been available, Vietnam would have had the chance to request a review of the incident, and the VAR team could have intervened to immediately correct the error. Without VAR, the assistant and main referees become the sole “arbiters.” Once the flag is raised, there is no tool to overturn the decision, and teams must accept it.

Even if Vietnam submitted a complaint to the organizers, it would bring no practical benefit. FIFA and AFC only consider appeals when referees misapply the laws—such as wrongly penalizing a situation—or show serious bias. Controversial decisions like incorrect offside calls or missed penalties are always regarded as professional errors and are not eligible for review or change.