Coach Kim put aside his sadness and went to see the Japanese referee officiate the Hanoi match: There were 3 matches without VAR.

Two important matches of round 25 of LPBank V-League 1-2024 - 2025 on June 15 will be officiated by Japanese FIFA referees. These are matches that will decide the championship race as well as the relegation battle.

Two Japanese referees officiate two hot matches in the penultimate round of V-League

Both Japanese referees are familiar “kings of the field” in Vietnamese football. The referee in charge of the capital derby between Hanoi FC and Viettel FC at Hang Day Stadium is Nagamine Koki.

Referee Nagamine Koki

Mr. Kim Sang-sik (black shirt, right) watches at V-League

Mr. Koki was born in 1991, worked in England and is no stranger to Southeast Asian football. This referee was assigned to officiate the match between Svey Rieng and PSM Makassar in the 2024-2025 Southeast Asian Club Championship, and the match between Vietnam and Myanmar in the 2024 AFF Cup.

Furthermore, he was assigned to officiate 2 matches in Premier League 2 (a tournament for youth teams of Premier League clubs) in 2022.

Referee Koki’s colleague, referee Iida Jumpei, is a “familiar face and name” to Vietnamese football fans. Referee Jumpei will officiate the match between Dong A Thanh Hoa and Cong An Ha Noi Club at Thanh Hoa Stadium.

Referee Jumpei officiated the match with the Vietnamese team.

Photo: VPF

The 43-year-old referee previously officiated the second leg of the 2022 AFF Cup final between Thailand and Vietnam. In 2019, Mr. Iida also officiated the confrontation between the two regional rivals in the semi-finals of the 2019 King's Cup.

This referee also officiated the match between Vietnam and UAE, 1-0, in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia. Mr. Iida also worked in the V-League. In the 2017 season, he officiated the match between Thanh Hoa and Hanoi in round 21, or the match between the capital team - Hanoi FC and Kichee (Hong Kong) in the 2017 AFC Champions League.

VAR will not be used in the two matches officiated by Japanese referees on June 15 due to operational conditions. Coach Kim Sang-sik is scheduled to attend the match between Hanoi FC and The Cong Viettel.

In the last 2 rounds of V-League, all 7 matches will take place on the same day, at the same time on the same field (5pm on June 15). Therefore, only 4/7 matches in each round will apply VAR. In round 25, 4 matches will have VAR support including: Ho Chi Minh City FC vs. Quy Nhon Binh Dinh, Hong Linh Ha Tinh vs. SHB Da Nang, Song Lam Nghe An vs. Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Quang Nam vs. Thep Xanh Nam Dinh.

The remaining match of round 23 without VAR and managed by all Vietnamese referees is the match between Hai Phong and Becamex Binh Duong (these two teams are both certain to stay in the league and have no chance of competing in the top 3).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-kim-gac-lai-noi-buon-di-xem-trong-tai-nhat-bat-tran-ha-noi-co-3-tran-khong-var-18525061309350634.htm