What a reversal of a decision already made! The outrage of the gentleman on the court, the authority of the judge who has broken down himself...A master's stern act.

Nov 02, 2025

What a reversal of a decision already made! The outrage of the gentleman on the court, the authority of the judge who has broken down himself...A master's stern act.
Photo courtesy=KOVO



What a reversal of a decision already made! The outrage of the gentleman on the court, the authority of the judge who has broken down himself...A master's stern act.
Photo courtesy=KOVO
What a reversal of a decision already made! The outrage of the gentleman on the court, the authority of the judge who has broken down himself...A master's stern act.
Photo courtesy=KOVO
"What do you mean a mistake? What kind of qualification do you have to make a judgment. It hurts the judges' authority by itself."

A red-colored face, but Hyundai Capital manager Philip Blanc's voice was low.

Hyundai Capital and OK Savings Bank played in the first round of the Jin Air 2025-2026 season at Yoo Gwan-soon Gymnasium in Cheonan on the 2nd.




These are the two teams that were the main characters of the offseason mega-trade that traded Shin Ji-jin and Jeon Kwang-in. It was also the day Jeon Kwang-in, who served as Hyundai Capital's captain, returned to Cheonan, where he played for seven years.

But an unexpected incident ruined the atmosphere. For more than 3,400 volleyball fans who filled the scene for Sunday, the image of the V-League fell to the bottom.

OK Savings Bank won the game with a set score of 3-1. However, the biggest event of the day was not a victory or defeat, nor was it a Su-hoon player.




It was none other than a misjudgment by the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) match supervisor Seo Nam-won. With Hyundai Capital leading 5-4 in the fourth set, OK Savings Bank Dimitrov's energetic spike went off the line. The referee declared out, saying no touch, and the bench of OK Savings Bank, including head coach Shin Young-chul, applied for a video review.

It was a very normal situation up to this point. The problem was the video reading misjudgment.

What a reversal of a decision already made! The outrage of the gentleman on the court, the authority of the judge who has broken down himself...A master's stern act.
Photo courtesy=KOVO
When video reading is performed, replays are also played on the on-site screen. Blocker's fingertips were accurately seen shaking after being hit by the ball. It was a clear touchout.




However, Seo Nam-won's judgment was different. Picking up the microphone, he declared 'No Touch', and the scoreboard changed to 6-4.

The bench of OK Savings Bank is boiling. Not only coach Shin Young-chul, but also coaches and players looked up at the supervisor's seat and shouted. In particular, foreign player Dimitrov showed an intense emotional explosion.

What was even more embarrassing was the supervisor's attitude. He hurriedly shouted out Vice Minister Choi Jae-hyo and said, "I'm sorry. Let me check again."

This time, Hyundai Capital's side exploded. In particular, Blanc, who won the league with treble last year, showed his most excitement since entering the V-League.

However, the supervisor looked at the screen once again and corrected it to 'Touchout'. The score was 5-5. Hyundai Capital's protest continued, but the referee proceeded with the game as it was. Hyundai Capital, which was in a slump, collapsed as it was.

A key official of the federation, who met at the scene on the same day, responded to reporters' inquiries, saying, `Even if we overturn the order, an accurate decision is the top priority. There is no problem with the regulations (to reverse the decision)."

What a reversal of a decision already made! The outrage of the gentleman on the court, the authority of the judge who has broken down himself...A master's stern act.
Photo courtesy=KOVO
However, Blanc, who met with reporters after the game, did not hide his deep disappointment with the V-League.

He said "First of all, volleyball-wise, OK Savings Bank did much better than us today. In particular, Cha Ji-hwan's performance was amazing. Congratulations to the opposing team as far as the game is concerned."

He then said "It's called the mistake of the game supervisor, but can we really dismiss it as a 'mistake'?"

"Korea is the only league that makes decisions in this way during the game. It is natural for the referee to manage the entire game, and there are assistant judges. I don't know why I should add something else to that. I left a comment on the final document, but it is also a question mark whether the federation will evaluate this properly."

Blanc's point is that there is room for video reading, but the final decision must be made by the referee with full responsibility. In fact, in basketball, including the K League, soccer, and the Korean Professional Basketball (KBL), the referee makes a decision on whether to watch the video review or not, and the subject who reverses or maintains the decision after watching the replay is also the referee.

However, the case of professional baseball is different. Video reading will be made immediately when requested by the coaches of both teams, and the reading will be made in the KBO reading room, not the fourth trial on the spot.

Before he came to Korea, Blanc said he did not know about the case of KB Insurance-KEPCO misjudgment on December 27, 2022, which is famous for former coach Hu In-jeong's passionate anger.It is also ironic that referee Nam Young-soo, who was in charge of the assistant referee of the game and communicated with former coach Hu In-jeong, was the referee of the day.

After the case, the federation issued internal guidelines that 'Even if you overturn the decree, focus on the correct judgment', and this is the first case that has been revealed externally.

What a reversal of a decision already made! The outrage of the gentleman on the court, the authority of the judge who has broken down himself...A master's stern act.
Photo courtesy=KOVO
Blanc said "The person making the final call should be the referee. I don't know why a third party makes a final decision behind the screen. It must be changed"And "Today's action is the rule of volleyball??It denies the authority and existence of volleyball referees. It's something the judges should be ashamed of."

"A number of the opposing players ran to the record box and made an aggressive appeal. That alone delayed a few minutes. But one of them (Dimitrov) and the appeal I made got one warning each. Please comply with volleyball regulations."

Blanc responded to the situation afterwards, saying, `The receiving was also shaky throughout the game, and there were too many mistakes on the serve. Our players didn't show steady performance"I'll go back to Castle and prepare well for the next game."," he added.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.