With such incidents, can we trust Korean referees? Even the same match saw 'a lack of consistency' → Hyundai Derby controversy over 'absurd call'

*This content was translated by AI.

Another absurd refereeing controversy erupted in K League 1 professional soccer. In fact, similar scenes in the first and second halves of the same match received 'extreme opposites' in rulings. Coincidentally, this particular call, which left one scratching their head, became the turning point for the direction of the crucial opening goal. The referee at the center of the controversy is Kim Dae-yong, who was named the Korea Football Association's Shim Pan-sang-eul (수상) of the Year in February this year.

The situation in question was as follows. On the 11th, during the Hyundai Derby, the 17th round of the Hana Bank K League 1 2026 between Ulsan HD and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium, it was a Ulsan attack in the 29th minute of the first half. It was a scene where Boyanich, seeing an infield grounder from the right side of the penalty box heading toward the goal, ran toward the front of the arc to connect with a shot.

Boyanich ran in the direction the ball was moving. However, coincidentally, referee Kim Dae-yong, who happened to be in between, tried to avoid the ball and collided strongly with Boyanich, who was rushing from behind. Boyanich, who had rushed forward focusing only on the ball, collided with referee Kim Dae-yong, who suddenly pushed him with his shoulder from the front, and fell heavily as a result. Coincidentally, the ball that had rolled away led to Jeonbuk's counterattack. Referee Kim Dae-yong did not even look at Boyanich, who had fallen after colliding strongly with him, and immediately ran along with Jeonbuk's counterattack. And this attack coincidentally led to Jeonbuk's opening goal.

Just as Boyanich protested with his arms spread wide immediately after colliding with the referee, it was a scene where the referee clearly influenced the match. Had the referee not been there, Boyanich would have had the opportunity for a direct shot, and even if that hadn't happened, it wouldn't have led to Jeonbuk's decisive counterattack. As a result, referee Kim Dae-yong's 'screen play' became the starting point for Jeonbuk's counterattack, and ultimately decided the direction of the opening goal in the intense Hyundai Derby. However, despite protests from the Ulsan bench and players, referee Kim Dae-yong's call was not overturned.

Of course, there is no rule that requires a match to be stopped simply because a referee collided with a player. However, if it is judged that the referee had even a slight influence on the game, it is very common for the referee to use their discretion to stop play and restart with a dropped ball. Even in cases where there was no collision with a player but a pass deflected slightly after hitting the referee, referees typically stop the match and make a gesture of apology to the team that suffered due to them. However, referee Kim Dae-yong did not stop the match despite colliding strongly with an opposing player due to his own mistake. Instead, he allowed the team that suffered due to his presence to potentially incur additional damage by keeping the opportunity intact. It was a judgment difficult to understand from common sense.

The bigger problem was not just this call itself. Referee Kim Dae-yong also collided with Ulsan's Jang Si-young again during stoppage time in the second half. This time, referee Kim Dae-yong moved his body while looking only at the ball and collided with Jang Si-young, who was rushing from behind. The only difference from the earlier first-half scene was that referee Kim Dae-yong also ended up rolling on the ground. However, this time, referee Kim Dae-yong blew his whistle and stopped the match. With completely different refereeing decisions in the same match between the first and second halves, Ulsan's anger could only reach its peak.

Coincidentally, last year's Hyundai Derby saw the 'exact opposite' situation. At that time, while Ulsan was launching an attack, Park Jin-seop (now at Zhejiang FC) collided with the referee, after which a Ulsan counterattack began. The referee blew his whistle to stop the Ulsan counterattack. The referee at that time was none other than Kim Dae-yong. In essence, the same person who blew the whistle for the same scene one year ago made the exact opposite call this time.

The Ulsan club also plans to formally request an explanation regarding the call at that time through the Korea Football Association's Referee Committee. A club official told StarNews, "Since we did not receive a detailed explanation about the call at that time, our intention is to hear a proper explanation even if the result does not change." It remains to be seen whether the Korea Football Association's Referee Committee will address the call through VAR ON, a YouTube content where they directly explain major refereeing issues.

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*This content was translated by AI.