Asian Games 2023: raging North Korea footballers attack referee following defeat by Japan
- North Korean tempers boil over after a late penalty award gifts victory to Japan in a tight Asian Games quarter-final
- Coach defends players, insisting ‘our behaviour is acceptable’, after security guards intervene in on-field ruckus
Furious North Korean footballers manhandled referee Rustam Lutfullin after crashing out of the Asian Games to Japan following a controversial late penalty.
Goalkeeper Kang Juh-yok vehemently protested after he was penalised for tripping forward Jun Nishikawa in the box. And North Korean anger heightened when Yuta Matsumura converted the 80th-minute spot-kick to restore Japan’s advantage, only six minutes after Kim Kuk-bom’s brilliant long-range strike drew the Koreans level.
The full-time whistle prompted chaotic scenes, with North Korea’s players – led by Kim Kyong-sok and captain Jang Kuk-chol – forcefully pursuing Uzbek official Lutfullin.
Lutfullin was shoved as he retreated from the raging mob, while an assistant referee restrained the irate Kim.
Security officials raced onto the pitch at Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium to intervene – and they were joined by North Korea coach Sin Yong-nam, who tried to drag his players away from Lutfullin.
Sin nevertheless launched a curious defence of his team in the aftermath.
“I admit that our players were a little bit overexcited in the match but it is football,” he said.
“There are confrontations in football matches … I think our behaviour is acceptable.”
North Korea had won all four of their previous matches, without conceding a goal. But Japan attacker Kotaro Uchino opened the scoring after 51 minutes in Hangzhou, before Kim Kuk-bom and Matsumura traded strikes.
Japan advanced to play Hong Kong in the semi-finals on Thursday after Jorn Andersen’s side shocked Iran 1-0 in their last-eight tie. South Korea meet Uzbekistan in the other semi-final.
North Korea, silver-medallists in 2014, will now look to their women’s team – who advanced to the last four following a bad-tempered 4-1 quarter-final victory over South Korea – for success.
They play Uzbekistan on Tuesday for the right to face either Japan or China in Friday’s final.
