An Australian referee officiated the Vietnam U23 vs. China U23 match.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Australian referee Alexander George King will officiate the semi-final match of the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship between Vietnam U23 and China U23 at 10:30 PM on January 20th.

Referee Alexander George King, 33 years old, is one of the best referees in Australian football.

Australian referee Alexander George King will officiate the semi-final match between Vietnam U23 and China U23 (Photo: Getty).

He has twice received the title of best referee in the Australian national championship (equivalent to the "Golden Whistle" award in V-League) in the 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 seasons.

Alexander George King received his FIFA referee certification in 2020, just one year after he began pursuing a professional football refereeing career.

The assistant referees for Alexander George King in the match between the Vietnam U23 and China U23 teams at 10:30 PM on January 20th are also Australians: James Andrew Lindsay and Kearney John Robinson. The fourth official is Qasim Matar Ali Al-Hatmi (from Oman).

The Vietnam U23 team has played very fairly from the beginning of the tournament until now. The whole team has hardly had any heated arguments with the referees, so as not to make the "kings of the pitch" have any ill feelings towards us (Photo: AFC).

The referee in charge of the VAR system for the upcoming match will be Muhammad Taqi (from Singapore). The VAR assistant referee will be Sivakorn Pu-Udom (from Thailand).

Among the aforementioned assistant referees, Alexander George King and Muhammad Taqi are officiating their second match at the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Championship, appearing in matches involving the Vietnam U23 team.

Referee Alexander George King previously officiated the match where Vietnam U23 defeated Saudi Arabia U23 1-0 in the group stage on January 12th.

Meanwhile, VAR referee Muhammad Taqi is working in the video assistant referee room for the second consecutive time. Previously, the Singaporean VAR referee managed the VAR room in the quarter-final match where Vietnam U23 defeated UAE U23 3-2 on January 16th.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/trong-tai-nguoi-australia-dieu-khien-tran-u23-viet-nam-u23-trung-quoc-20260118235037902.htm