On March 5, Jordanian referee Mark Hadmeh will enforce the match between Shandong Taishan and Yokohama Mariners with two Jordanian assistants, according to the official news of AFC. According to the schedule, the AFC Champions League quarterfinal will be played on March 6 at 18:00 at Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium. This refereeing arrangement, however, has caused some concern among fans.
Looking at his enforcement resume, Mark Hadmeh is fully capable of enforcing the AFC Champions League quarterfinals. The 1986-born mid-career referee has been one of the key referees developed by the AFC in recent years. Not long ago, he just enforced the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and has enforced in intercontinental and international soccer tournaments such as the 2019 Asian Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. So far, Mark Hadmeh has participated in 77 international enforcement matches.
At the same time, Mark Hadmeh has some connections with Chinese soccer. 2013, at the invitation of the CFA, he had enforced the match between Shanghai Shenhua and the former Shanghai Dongya in the Super Cup. In that match, Shanghai Shenhua won 2:1. In addition, he also enforced the AFC Champions League between Shandong Taishan and Johor in 2019, which Shandong Taishan eventually won by 2. :1 win.
Why does this type of referee, who has a lot of experience in enforcing the law, cause concern among fans? The problem starts with the just-concluded Asian Cup.
At 23:00 GMT on February 10, Qatar welcomed a strong match against Jordan in the Asian Cup final, which was played with 33 points. :Winning and defending the title at home. The referee for this match was Chinese referee Ma Ning, who stood on the stage of the Asian Cup final for the first time.
During the match, Manning gave Qatar three penalties. Although giving the hosts three penalties may seem like an exaggeration, outsiders recognized Manning's calls because all three were accurate.
However, Manning's penalty made Jordan very unhappy. Many Jordanian soccer players had protested Manning's penalty online.
Therefore, when Jordanian referees enforced the Chinese Super League team to participate in the game, many fans were worried that the referees would be angry and unfavorable punishment to the Taishan team.
Fans' concerns come from a place of love and concern for the team. However, there is a good chance that this concern is unwarranted.
After all, the Asian Cup and the AFC Champions League are two completely different tournaments, and national team matches and club matches cannot be the same. There is reason to believe that the experienced Mark Hadmeh will prove his professionalism with his fair penalties and thus be further recognized by the AFC. In addition, Taishan has been showing people with good style. As long as the team focuses on the game and does not actively make mistakes, there is no need to fear the influence of third parties.
