South Korea's professional football league will introduce a video review system earlier than scheduled following a series of missed calls by referees, officials said Wednesday.
The K League, the operator of pro football competitions, originally planned to adopt the video assistant referees system for the first division K League Classic on July 22, but it decided to implement the system three weeks ahead of schedule.
(Yonhap)
"Since the controversy regarding missed calls has worsened, we decided to adopt the system on July 1," the K League said. "We will finalize all the testing procedures by the end of June."
The refereeing controversy this season first exploded in March when Gwangju FC claimed they lost to FC Seoul after bad officiating. With Gwangju leading 1-0, the referees gave a penalty to Seoul as they ruled that Seoul midfielder Lee Sang-ho's cross hit the hands of Gwangju defender Park Dong-jin in the box. The video replay from the match broadcasters, however, showed that Lee's cross actually hit Park's back. Gwangju gave up another controversial penalty in the second half and suffered a 2-1 defeat.
Following the incident, the K League expelled the main referee and suspended the assistant referee.
Another controversial handball call was made in a match between Gangwon FC and Incheon United on Sunday, and fans here called for solutions to poor officiating.
"We're already testing the video review system in the R League (the reserves league)," a K League official said. "The system will be also introduced in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea, so we will use those matches as our benchmark."
Under the system, a referee can run a video replay on the sidelines during the game to make a call. There will be a video assistant referee who will help the head referee conduct on-field reviews.
The K League previously said it plans to install additional cameras at stadiums to reduce "blind areas" on the pitch and help the referees make correct calls. (Yonhap)
