At the end of the match between Gangwon FC and FC Seoul, referee Chae Sang-hyeop’s incomprehensible decision was eventually concluded as a ‘misjudgment’. Seoul must bear the damage intact. The 1 point that flew away is the victory point that divided the fate of the K-League champions or relegated teams.

According to the Korea Football Association (KFA), the referee evaluation subcommittee unanimously concluded through an online meeting on the 27th that referee Chae Sang-hyeop’s decision against Gangwon was wrong. The result came out that declaring Kim Jin-ya’s holding foul itself was a foul, and failing to make an accurate decision through video review (VAR) with a hasty whistle was also wrong. It means that it was an obvious mistake. 

In the K-League 1 round 9 match between Gangwon and Seoul on the 26th, chief referee Chae Sang-hyeop stood at the center of controversy with a controversial decision at the end of extra time in the second half. The whistle was blown pointing out Kim Jin-ya (Seoul)’s foul right before Seoul’s last attack opportunity, which was trailing 2-3 at the time, was about to score a dramatic equalizer. It was the referee’s judgment that Kim Jin-ya grabbed Seo Min-woo (Kangwon) with his hand and knocked him down. 크크크벳

The problem is that in the video from a different angle, Seo Min-woo tripped over the leg of his teammate, not Kim Jin-ya. Kim Jin-ya did not get involved in the process of Seo Min-woo’s fall. This was the reason why the referee evaluation subcommittee had no choice but to acknowledge referee Chae’s foul declaration as an obvious mistake. Kim Jin-ya also appealed to the referee for regret when his foul was declared, but the whistle was already blown and the decision could not be overturned. He made a gesture as if he was communicating with the VAR referee’s office, but the foul was not subject to VAR in the first place.

The bigger problem was that referee Chae had the opportunity to correct himself that Jin-ya Kim’s foul was wrong in the first place. It was not the timing when Palosevich shot after Seo Min-woo fell, but if the whistle was blown after Palosevich’s shot shook the net, it was because we could see various situations, including the scene where Min-woo Seo fell, through VAR reviews. Since the foul was declared first, not subject to VAR, there was no scoring scene afterwards. Because of the hasty whistle, the VAR review itself was impossible.