At dawn on August 26th, the Chinese men's football team will embark on a journey on a special Qatar Airways flight from Shanghai to Doha, the capital of Qatar, to prepare for the first two rounds of the upcoming Asian Qualifying Round 12 matches. At the same time, a team of five Chinese international referees, consisting of Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhang Lei, Cao Yi and Shi Xiang, will also depart from Beijing on the same day for Dubai, UAE, where they will enforce the first round of the 12-team tournament in Doha between the UAE and Lebanon, as well as the second round of the tournament between Iraq and Iran. They will fight for the honor of our soccer on the highest stage of Asian soccer.
According to the Beiqing-Beijing headline reporter, in view of the outstanding performance of China's Football Association (CFA) registered international referees Ma Ning and Fu Ming, as well as international assistant referees Shi Xiang and Cao Yi in the AFC West Asia Region tournament, the 40-team tournament, and the Tokyo Olympics soccer tournament, the AFC has included six of China's CFA-registered referees, including them, in the 12-team tournament law enforcement shortlist.
Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhang Lei (with the qualifications of referee, fourth official and VAR referee), as well as Shi Xiang, Cao Yi and other international referees were notified not long ago and confirmed that they will participate in Group A of the 12-team tournament in September, in charge of some of the first two rounds of the first two rounds of the group in which China is located.
According to the news released by the Iraqi Football Association, a team of registered international referees of our Football Association, with Ma Ning as the main referee, will enforce the second round of the heavyweight match between Iraq and Iran. Ma Ning's partners are fourth official Zhang Lei, assistant referee Cao Yi and Shi Xiang. Fu Ming will also be assigned by the AFC to enforce the other matches of the 12-team tournament as he has just recently finished enforcing the Tokyo Olympics soccer tournament.
The data shows that during the 40-team tournament, Manin has accumulated three matches in law enforcement, namely Indonesia's 0-3 home loss to Thailand in September 2019; Qatar's 2-1 win over India in Doha in June of the same year; and Afghanistan's 1-2 loss to Oman.
Zhang Lei had enforced Afghanistan's 1-0 win over Bangladesh in September 2019 Fu Ming is the registered international-level referee of China's Football Association who has enforced the most matches during the Top 40 tournament, and he has enforced a total of four matches. The two international assistant referees, Cao Yi and Shi Xiang, have also been assisting international referees such as Ma Ning in the enforcement of many important matches in Asian soccer.
It is worth noting that the special plane booked by the Chinese Football Association for the national team to Doha will take off in the early morning of August 26th. So will several Chinese referees travel on the same plane? Sources close to the matter revealed that the idea was indeed mentioned but could not be implemented due to practical factors.
It is understood that before enforcing the "Iran-Iraq match", the Chinese referee team, with Ma Ning as the main referee, will have to enforce the first round of the September 2 match between the UAE and Lebanon, as assigned by the AFC Sanctioning Committee. If they travel with the national team, they will have to transfer from Doha to Dubai, UAE.
In addition, the AFC regulations, including participation in the enforcement of various games referees, including the various types of 12 competition officials from their member associations country (region) to go outside the law enforcement, operations, can take the business class round trip. Because this time to Doha, our national team delegation totaled nearly 80 people, business class seats are very limited. Even the head coach Li Tie also made preparations to continue to leave the class berths for the players to use. Therefore, the referees can not "seize" the team's berth.
It is understood that the five-member Chinese referee team plans to leave Beijing for Dubai on the 26th. After enforcing the UAE's match against Lebanon on September 2, they will go to Doha to enforce the "Iran-Iraq match". Unsurprisingly, Ma Ning and Fu Ming will be the referee and VAR referee for the UAE-Lebanon match.
It should be noted that the Iraqi Football Association has revealed that the home of the Iraqi team for the Round of 12 will be at the Garafa Stadium in Doha. This stadium is not a World Cup stadium, nor is it air-conditioned. The physical test for several Chinese referees will undoubtedly be severe. Of course, to be able to stand on behalf of our country's soccer on the highest stage of law enforcement in the Asian football world, the five referees are also doubly honored in their hearts. Because the 12-team tournament will be played at a pace of two rounds of matches per month for the next three months, the performance of the first two rounds of matches will directly affect the chances of the referees being assigned to the next round of matches. It seems that the five Chinese referees will not, and have no reason to, miss such an opportunity to perform.
