Malaysian referee to officiate match featuring U23 Vietnam stars

As assigned by the VFF Referee Committee, the two Malaysian FIFA referees, Mohamad Kamil Zakaria Bin Ismail and Razlan Joffri Bin Ali, will be in charge of the CAHN versus Ninh Binh game, taking place at 19:15 on February 1 at Hang Day Stadium.

Among them, referee Razlan Joffri Bin Ali (born 1985) is a familiar figure to V-League fans. The Malaysian “man in black” has frequently been invited to officiate high-stakes, fiercely competitive matches. In the 2023–2024 season, he refereed the Quang Nam victory over SLNA 4-2 in round 24. In the 2024–2025 season, he continued to officiate the SHB Da Nang vs SLNA match in round 26 and served as VAR referee in the Hanoi FC vs Thep Xanh Nam Dinh match in round 21.

Accompanying Bin Ali is the young referee Mohamad Kamil Zakaria Bin Ismail (born 1995). Despite his youth, he has experience working in the V-League, having officiated the Binh Dinh vs Hanoi FC match in round 26 and the Hanoi FC vs Nam Dinh match in round 21 of the 2024–2025 season.

From a technical perspective, the clash between CAHN and Ninh Binh is considered an “early final” of the first leg. After 10 rounds, CAHN stands second with 26 points (8 wins, 2 draws, no losses), while Ninh Binh leads with 27 points (8 wins, 3 draws, no losses). Notably, CAHN has played one fewer match than their rival and could overtake them with a favorable result.

However, CAHN will face a significant disadvantage as coach Mano Polking cannot directly manage from the technical area due to accumulating 3 yellow cards. The Brazilian coach must watch the game from the stands and provide indirect instructions to his players.

Another special highlight of the match is the award ceremony for the 2026 AFC U23 Golden Boot winner, striker Nguyen Dinh Bac. Just before kickoff, VFF President Tran Quoc Tuan will present this award on behalf of the AFC to the CAHN forward. Besides Dinh Bac, the match also brings together many U23 Vietnam players who recently participated in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals, such as Minh Phuc, Ly Duc (CAHN), and Thai Son, Le Phat, Van Thuan, Quoc Viet from Ninh Binh, increasing the match’s attention from experts and fans alike.