Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) has just confirmed the invitation of 2 Japanese FIFA referees to officiate 2 important matches in round 25 of the 2024-2025 V.League.
The designated matches include the confrontation between Hanoi club and The Cong Viettel, and the match between Dong A Thanh Hoa and Hanoi Police.
Referee Nagamine Koki will officiate the capital derby between Hanoi and The Cong Viettel. This referee was born in 1991, has worked in England and has a lot of experience as a starting player in tournaments in Southeast Asia.
Recently, Mr. Koki has officiated the match between Svey Rieng and PSM Makassar at the 2024-2025 Southeast Asian Club Championship, as well as the match between Vietnam and Myanmar at the 2024 ASEAN Cup.
The match between Dong A Thanh Hoa and Hanoi Police will be hosted by referee Jumpei Iida. He is a familiar face to Vietnamese fans as he played in the second leg of the 2022 AFF Cup final between Thailand and Vietnam.
In addition, he also officiated important matches of the Vietnam team such as the victory over the UAE in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup or the semi-final of the 2019 King's Cup against Thailand.
These two matches will not apply VAR technology due to limited technical conditions. In the final rounds of V.League, all matches take place at the same time, but only 4 out of 7 matches in each round are deployed with VAR.
