As controversies surrounding referee decisions continue in the K League, the Korean Football Association has announced a restructuring of its referee evaluation committee.
On August 25, the association revealed that it will operate a restructured Professional Referee Evaluation Committee to analyze and assess the performance of K League referees.
The revamped committee will consist of a total of seven members, including four from the football association and three from the Korea Professional Football League. Notably, the three members from the league will be non-referees, making up approximately 42.9% of the committee. This marks the first time the proportion of non-referee members has exceeded 40%.
The four members from the football association will continue to include full-time referee instructors and analysts who specialize in decision-making. The league's three members will include Kim Ho-young, the technical committee chair, among other non-referees.
The Professional Referee Evaluation Committee reviews key decisions made during K League matches from various perspectives to determine whether they were correct or incorrect. It also establishes the annual grading criteria for referees, which affects their promotion and demotion.
This restructuring is part of the football association's efforts to implement referee policy development tasks announced in February. The aim is to incorporate the perspectives of non-referee members into evaluations that have traditionally been conducted by decision-making specialists.
The football association also plans to conduct 'Decision Briefings' summarizing the committee's review results on key controversial decisions. These briefings will include the outcomes of correct and incorrect calls, along with the regulatory basis and technical reasoning behind those conclusions.
Previously, during a referee development policy announcement in February, the football association promised to provide immediate explanations whenever significant issues arose regarding decisions, introducing the concept of 'Monday Briefings.' However, to date, only three such briefings have been distributed.
Park Il-ki, head of the football association's competition operations department, stated, "Initially, we promised 'Monday Briefings' to provide immediate guidance on major issues related to referee decisions. However, in reality, significant issues require in-depth official discussions through the Professional Referee Evaluation Committee rather than just a small group. Moving forward, we plan to provide updates on issues through 'Decision Briefings' following committee meetings."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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