Vietnamese FIFA referee Le Thi Ly officiated the match between the DPRK women's team and the Chinese women's team in the last round of Group B of the 2026 Women's Asian Cup, taking place on the evening of March 9th at Western Sydney Stadium (Australia).
After the match, some opinions from the coaching staff of the DPRK and Chinese media mentioned professional situations related to refereeing work.
The match took place in heavy rain weather conditions, with many fierce tackles. The Chinese women's team won 2-1, thereby topping Group B.
Some situations in the match attracted attention. In the 3rd minute, striker Kim Song-gyong (DPRK) fouled Shao Ziqin. After consulting VAR and reviewing the video, referee Le Thi Ly decided to pull out a yellow card for the DPRK player.
Another notable situation occurred in the 84th minute, when center-back An Kuk-hyang collided with Wang Shuang while China was throwing a wing. VAR continued to be used to support the refereeing team. After reviewing the situation, the main referee issued a yellow card warning.
A bigger controversy occurred in injury time of the first half when China put the ball into the net of the DPRK. Initially, the assistant referee raised the flag to signal an offside. However, after VAR checked the situation again, Wang Shuang's goal was recognized.
This decision caused the players and coaching staff of the DPRK to react on the field for a few minutes. The match was temporarily interrupted before the first half ended. After the break, the East Asian team returned to normal play and completed the match.
Speaking after the match, coach Ri Song-ho said that the goal situation was a difficult decision and the emotions on the field caused the players to react. However, he affirmed that the whole team quickly regained their composure to continue playing in the second half.
In addition, the North Korean coach also mentioned the injury time of the second half, when the match ended about ten seconds earlier than the announced injury time.
Referee Le Thi Ly was born in 1993 in Lam Dong and has been recognized as a FIFA referee since 2019. She is currently one of the senior female referees of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), having served in many international tournaments.
The 2026 Women's Asian Cup is the first tournament that Ms. Le Thi Ly was assigned to officiate in the final round. Previously, the Vietnamese female referee also officiated the match between the Philippines and South Korea in the group stage.
At this year's tournament, Vietnam also has assistant referee Ha Thi Phuong and reserve referee Bui Thi Thu Trang participating in the task.
