KBL Admits Referee Error After LG's Yun Won-sang Scores Game-Winner Despite Being Ineligible Player

A refereeing blunder during a professional basketball game between the Changwon LG Sakers and Goyang Sono Skygunners allowed an ineligible player to step onto the court and score the decisive basket.

With the match outcome decided by the erroneous ruling, the defeated Sono club strongly protested and requested a rematch.

In the 2026-2027 KCC Professional Basketball regular season home game held at Goyang Sono Arena, Sono suffered a 109-107 loss after conceding a dramatic game-winning layup to LG's Yun Won-sang just before the final buzzer.

However, Yun, the hero of the final scoring play, was a player who should not have been allowed on the court under league regulations.

The problematic situation occurred right after LG's Yang Hong-seok scored a two-pointer to take a 107-105 lead with six seconds left in the game.

Both teams executed player substitutions following Sono's timeout request.

Sono substituted Lee Jae-do for Kim Jin-yu, while LG substituted Jang Min-guk for Yun Won-sang.

Just as Sono was about to set up their offense after the timeout, before the game clock could run, LG's Carl Tamayo committed a foul, awarding free throws to Sono.

At this point, prior to Johnny O'Bryant's free throw attempts, Sono attempted to substitute Kim Jin-yu back in for Lee Jae-do, but the referees blocked it.

This was because Article 19 of the KBL Game Rules regarding "Player Substitutions" states that "a player who has been substituted out or in cannot re-enter or leave the court until the game clock has run and the ball becomes dead again."

Since the game clock had not operated, the ruling denying Sono's re-substitution was correct.

The problem was that the officiating crew did not apply the same principle to LG.

Immediately after O'Bryant sank both free throws to tie the game at 107-107, the LG bench once again requested the re-entry of Yun Won-sang, and the referees accepted it as is.

It was a clear refereeing error to allow Yun to re-enter when he had left the court without the game clock having advanced.

As a result, LG secured a dramatic victory as Yun, who had no qualification to be on the court, scored the game-winner.

Realizing the rule violation belatedly, the Sono side strongly protested.

A Sono official stated today (October 27), "We plan to send an official letter to the KBL to formally raise the issue and request a rematch."

The KBL also acknowledged the referees' mistake.

A KBL official stated, "Through the post-game report, we confirmed that the substitution was not permitted under the rules.

We acknowledge the operational misjudgment, and we will take thorough measures regarding player substitutions and prevent recurrence through disciplinary actions for those involved."

At the same time, however, the KBL drew a line regarding Sono's request for a rematch.

The KBL side dismissed the demand, stating, "According to regulations, protests must be filed within 20 minutes after the end of the game, so a rematch is fundamentally impossible."

(Photo provided by KBL, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.