The Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) has appointed two Malaysian referees, Mohamad Kamil Zakaria Bin Ismail and Razlan Joffri Bin Ali, to officiate a pivotal V-League match on 1/2. This marks the first time foreign referees have participated in the 2025-2026 V-League season. The specific roles, with one serving as the main referee and the other managing the video assistant referee (VAR) room, will be finalized by the referee board of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) before the match.

Scheduled for 1/2 at Hang Day stadium, this encounter between Ninh Binh and Cong an Ha Noi (CAHN) is expected to significantly impact the championship race. Ninh Binh currently leads the league with 27 points, one point ahead of CAHN, though they have played one more match. Both teams remain undefeated this V-League season, each securing 8 victories.

Malaysian referee Joffri Bin Ali (left) officiated the 1-1 draw between SLNA and Quang Nam in V-League round 19, 2024-2025, at Vinh stadium, Nghe An on 20/4/2025. Photo: VPF

Razlan Joffri Bin Ali, born in 1985, has been officiating since 2017. Mohamad Kamil Zakaria Bin Ismail is younger and began his career as a main referee in 2022. Despite his shorter tenure, he is regarded as one of Malaysia's top-quality referees.

In the 2025-2026 V-League, Razlan Joffri has previously officiated Da Nang's 2-1 victory over SLNA in round 26 and managed the VAR room for Nam Dinh's 3-0 win against Ha Noi in round 21. For Ha Noi's 3-1 win over Thanh Hoa in round 17, Razlan Joffri served as the main referee, with Mohamad Kamil managing the VAR.

This season marks the 12th consecutive year the V-League has employed foreign referees. The practice began in the 2014 season, with Japanese referee Ryuji Sato officiating Binh Duong's 2-0 victory over Thanh Hoa in round 16.

Hiring foreign referees is a traditional method employed by VPF to oversee certain crucial matches in the latter half of each season. These selected matches typically determine the championship title or relegation status.

Despite the intent, foreign referees are not immune to errors, as demonstrated in Thanh Hoa's 3-1 victory over The Cong in V-League round 19, 2024-2025. Thai referee Warintorn Sassadee made two errors in that match, even after consulting VAR. First, he issued a yellow card to The Cong midfielder Nguyen Duc Chien for an elbowing incident against a Thanh Hoa player. Later in the match, he overlooked The Cong goalkeeper Pham Van Phong's high kick that struck forward Ribamar in the chest. Notably, the Thanh Hoa club did not react or lodge a complaint regarding the refereeing after the match, unlike instances involving local referees.

Hieu Luong