Late on the night of January 9, Beijing time, an event was unveiled on FIFA's official website - the referee lineup for the 2023 Women's World Cup was officially announced. Among them, Chinese female referee Xie Lijun stood out and was honored with the position of assistant referee. The announced referee lineup, covering 33 referees, 55 assistant referees and 19 video assistant referees, the lineup can be considered luxurious. FIFA Refereeing Committee Chairman Corina emphasized that the refereeing team selected represents the top level of the global refereeing community, adhering to the principle of "Law Enforcement Level Comes First". He expressed his hope that the success of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France will be continued and that a higher level of refereeing will be brought to the upcoming FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia/New Zealand. In the announced list, Xie Lijun's name stands out. Not only is she the only Chinese referee, but she is also once again standing in the enforcement seat of an international competition during the transition period from last year's Women's Asian Cup to this year's U17 Women's World Cup. Prior to this, Xie Lijun had served as a referee for a number of large-scale women's soccer matches such as the National Games, the World Military Games, the Southeast Asian Games, etc., and had served as an enforcer for many consecutive years in the Women's Super League and Women's First Division League. It is worth mentioning that FIFA has been selecting referees for the Women's World Cup since 2020 and named it "The Road to Australia and New Zealand". Over the past two years, more than 170 candidates have been selected through a rigorous training program. The referees will gather in Doha, Qatar, in January and February to attend seminars, analyze video footage of enforcement on the pitch and train with the athletes in order to be at their best for the tournament. As the 2023 Women's World Cup draws nearer, the tournament will kick off with great excitement from July 20 to August 20 in New Zealand and Australia. China's women's soccer team is in Group D with England, Denmark and one of the play-off Group B (Senegal, Haiti and Chile), and is looking forward to writing a brilliant chapter on the green field.
