On April 4, the morning sun shone in Beijing at the end of the pre-season referee training course for the 2023 Chinese Super League and First Division. In this high-profile training course, 252 referees stayed at their posts and were neither absent nor taken away by the authorities, despite the pressure from the outside world and the suspicion of anti-corruption and anti-mafia. This is undoubtedly a strong testament to the reputation of the refereeing community, especially those controversial referees such as Ma Ning, Fu Ming and Zhang Lei, who have become even more resilient under pressure.
Back in time to the end of March, the CFA issued a notice announcing that a pre-season referee training course for the new season of the Chinese Super League (CSL) and the Chinese League One (CHL1) would be held from March 29th to April 3rd. The training course brought together 252 referees, assistant referees and referee supervisors from the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League A, including as many as 91 whistle blowing referees.
After 6 days of training, the referees studied intensively and actively adapted to the new rules to get ready for the new season. However, it was widely expected that the working group would take away some controversial referees, but the final result was surprisingly calm, no one was taken away for 6 days, which made people marvel at the serenity of the league's referee circle.
It has been more than four months since the national soccer team launched its anti-corruption and anti-mafia operation. During this period, they have arrested senior officials of the Football Association, senior managers of clubs and some players, including many cases involving match-fixing and gambling. Some of these officials are in charge of league and refereeing work, raising public concern about whether the refereeing circle will be affected.
In recent years, there have been constant controversies in the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League A. In particular, matches officiated by referees such as Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhang Lei and Li Haixin have become the focus of much discussion among the media and fans. Some referees have been particularly scrutinized by fans due to their relationship with soccer associations.
Now, the "curse of the conference" of anti-corruption has been broken in front of the referee circle. Prior to this, the working group had arrested relevant persons before and after the conference, including Chen Xuyuan, Chen Yongliang, Du Zhaocai, Li Tie, etc. However, none of the referees were taken away from the conference, which undoubtedly showed their innocence. However, in this referee training course, none of the referees were taken away from the meeting, which undoubtedly shows their innocence and makes the outside world's suspicion of them seem insignificant.
Of course, whether or not a referee attends a training course does not mean that they will not have problems at a later stage. We expect the referees to stick to the bottom line and respond to the public's queries with clean and flawless performance. At the same time, we also hope that the referees' decisions in the new season will be more professional and fair.
