KFA referees’ committee cries ‘under-standing football’, respect can’t be earned by demanding it

“‘Understanding football’ means respecting the referee.”

This is what the Korean Football Association’s Referee Committee (Chairman Lee Jung-min) means by ‘Understanding Football’. Despite the recent inconsistency in refereeing decisions, the refereeing committee is not afraid to ask for ‘respect’ from fans.

The referees’ decisions have recently come under fire again. On the 24th of last month, the FC Anyang-Busan I-Park match of the 23rd round of the Hana OneQ K League 2 2023 was on the chopping block. In the first half, Anyang’s Lee Chang-yong’s header hit the arm of a Busan defender in the 44th minute; in the second half, Anyang’s Joo Hyun-woo was caught by an opposing defender in the penalty box in the 42nd minute; and in the second half, Busan’s Choi Joon’s shot hit the arm of Anyang’s Baek Dong-gyu in the extra time.

However, the referee, who ignored the unfavorable scenes for Busan, declared a penalty kick (PK) for the last scene through VAR (video assistant referee) along with an accumulation of warnings. In the end, Anyang conceded a PK and lost 1-2.

As expected, the impact was huge. The owner of the club, Anyang Mayor Max Ho, complained on social media. However, Lee Jung-min, chairman of the association’s referee committee, emphasized “under-standing football.

In a call with Sports Donga on the 2nd, he said, “It’s all sincere. We do not make recommendations to the referee unless the handball situation is clearly judged by the VAR,” he said, adding, “If it is a clear error, we apologize and admit it. However, we recognize that decisions can change depending on the referee’s personality and the overall atmosphere of the game. We hope you will look at this decision in light of ‘understanding football’.”

Lee, who was appointed in June, has been a staunch advocate of under-standing football. On the surface, this means taking into account the scene and context of the call. But he’s only asking for respect for the referee. “The referee needs to be respected in every decision to keep the game going,” he says. Even FIFA doesn’t recognize bad calls as mistakes, but rather as training to prevent them from happening again.”메이저놀이터

I’m not convinced. Officiating is already out of control in the K League. Many people are fed up with repeated, forgettable bad calls, yet the referees only demand respect for themselves. But respect is not something that can be earned. Respect can only be earned through trust and acceptable explanations.