Korean referee who angered Vietnamese fans will officiate in V-League

Referee Kim Woo Sung officiated the match between Vietnam and Singapore in the first leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 semi-final - Photo: VFF

The most notable match of round 24 of V-League 2024-2025 between Hanoi Police Club and Hanoi at 7:15 p.m. on May 26 at Hang Day Stadium will be officiated by a Korean FIFA referee.

Specifically, two referees Kim Woo Sung and Chae Sang Hyeop will act as main referees, one as VAR room referee.

Both of these Korean referees have never officiated in the V-League. However, referee Kim Woo Sung is a “familiar” with Vietnamese football, having officiated in several national team level matches.

The most recent match was between the Vietnamese team and host Singapore in the first leg of the ASEAN Cup 2024 semi-finals.

At that time, referee Kim Woo Sung angered both Vietnamese players and fans when he denied Nguyen Xuan Son's beautiful goal in the 83rd minute. He consulted VAR and said that the ball touched the naturalized striker's hand before finishing.

The referee born in 1987 also officiated the match between Vietnam U23 and Uzbekistan U23 at the 2024 AFC U23 Championship Finals.

FIFA referee Chae Sang Hyeop was born in 1989. He officiated the match between Hanoi Police Club and Borneo FC, which ended 3-2 at Hang Day Stadium in the group stage of the 2024-2025 ASEAN Club Championship.

If they win this match, Hanoi FC will continue to chase the top team Nam Dinh in the championship race. If they do not win, the capital team may have to watch their opponent crowned the championship two matches early.

Meanwhile, the victory will help Hanoi Police Club compete for the runner-up position with Hanoi Club.

Inviting foreign referees to officiate some matches in national professional football tournaments is part of the plan of the tournament organizing committee and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and is often applied to the final rounds - where key matches in the championship group or decisive confrontations at the bottom of the rankings take place.

In this year's season, foreign referees have been invited by the tournament organizers from round 17 of V-League 2024-2025.

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NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/trong-tai-han-quoc-tung-bi-cdv-viet-gian-du-se-cam-coi-ov-league-20250525173607267.htm