North Korea's all-time 'judgment complaint → boycott of the game' incident, elbow price + murder tackle... "A violation of the spirit of sports." Anger explodes

*This content was translated by AI.

The North Korean women's national soccer team surrounded the referee and boycotted the game for the first time. He is even criticized for committing a murder tackle that tramples on the opponent's knee and flirting with common sense on the Asian Cup stage.

According to multiple media reports, including China's "Sina Sports," on the 10th (Korea Standard Time), North Korean players were dissatisfied with the decision and suspended the game as a group during the third Group B match of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup at Western Sydney Stadium in Sydney, Australia on the 9th.

The incident occurred in the first half of extra time when the score was 1-1. When China's Wang Shuang's come-from-behind goal was scored, the Vietnamese referee initially declared offside, but after a long video review (VAR), he acknowledged the score.

Then the North Korean players exploded in groups. They surrounded the referee and protested strongly, asking him to check the video himself, and refused to resume the game for about four minutes, gathering in front of the bench and causing a fuss.

As the situation grew out of control, the referee took out a yellow card from North Korean coach Lee Sung-ho and forced him to blow the whistle at the end of the first half even though there was more than a minute left in additional time.

Foreign media such as France's 'AFP' were also angry at North Korea's scandal. The media strongly criticized "North Korea's behavior as a malicious act that violates the spirit of sports."

The North Korean national team's senseless behavior continued throughout the game. Three minutes into the first half, midfielder Kim Sung-kyung hit Chinese striker Xiao Ji-chin's right knee with his sole while fighting for a loose ball. Even the elbow price toward the Chinese player was captured on the broadcast screen.

China was angered by North Korea's violent soccer. "It was a cruel and extremely dangerous foul," Sohu said. According to the regulations, it was naturally a sense of exit," he said, expressing anger by asking AFC to take disciplinary action later.

Meanwhile, China, which beat North Korea 2-1 in the Asian Cup for the first time in about 20 years since 2006, advanced to the quarterfinals as No. 1 in the group. According to "Sina Sports," Song Kai, president of the Chinese Football Association, visited the locker room and encouraged the players, saying, "It's a victory brought by great tactics," but stressed, "We have to take deep lessons from the match against North Korea." On the other hand, North Korea, which was pushed to second place in the group after a scandal, will face host Australia in the quarterfinals.

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*This content was translated by AI.