In the 25th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL), referees were faced with a tough enforcement test as non-technical fouls emerged like a tidal wave. Sports Discovery continues to focus on senior international referee Wang Xuezhi, analyzing the penalties that sparked widespread controversy.
Controversy erupted in the face of Shandong Taishan's match against Hebei. In the 60th minute of the match, Shandong Taishan's foreign aid player Cressan broke through with the ball and fell to the ground near the sideline, and referee Yu Bo quickly awarded a penalty kick.
Wang Xuezhi analyzed that when the defender made contact with Cressan, the latter fell to the ground in the penalty area. Due to the limited vision of the referee, the VAR footage showed that the point of contact occurred inside the penalty area, and the defender did not take any additional action after sliding.VAR should have intervened to confirm that the penalty was more accurately awarded as a free kick.
Referee Shi Zhenlu did not award a penalty after Liu Yiming and Huang Zichang made ball-less physical contact in the 48th minute of the showdown between Wuhan Sanzhen and Henan Songshan Longmen.
Wang Xuezhi pointed out that Liu Yiming's reckless tackle caused Huang Zichang to fall. If there was no physical contact, an indirect free kick, physical contact and a penalty kick should have been awarded.
In the match between Wuhan Changjiang and Beijing Guoan, in the 66th minute, Wang Gang made a breakthrough with the ball, Bruno pulled the opponent, both players clashed, and referee Zhang Long only gave Bruno a yellow card.
Wang Xuezhi said Bruno's intentional tugging constituted a serious foul and Wang Gang kicked his opponent with his foot, both of whom deserved red cards.
In the match between Shenzhen and Shanghai Seaport, in the 63rd minute, Achimpen broke through with the ball, the Seaport defenders pulled and Li Shenyuan was fouled.
Wang Xuezhi emphasized that the continuous pulling by the defenders should be warned by a yellow card.
In this round of the league, the matches between Dalian Ren and Guangzhou, and Guangzhou City and Meizhou Hakka all had problems with players clashing in groups and targeting the referee.
Wang Xuezhi pointed out that the referee repeatedly made errors of principle and bad judgment, and that VAR was improperly used, resulting in the referee appearing powerless in the face of major fouls and violence.
In the 25th round, the referee's ability to manage the game was weak, with inaccurate penalties and lax penalties for major fouls and violence, and the style of play needs to be improved.
Zhou Guoping once said, "Maturity is not the smoothing out of edges, but the premature aging of the spirit and the extinction of personality." Seeing through the phenomenon to the essence is a necessary quality of a referee.
The scale of refereeing is not about adapting to the players, but about getting the players to adapt to the rules. Referees need to stick to their principles, even in the face of verbal abuse and mobbing, and stick to the bottom line of cleaning up the style of play.
The Chinese Super League calls for "clean" referees who are calm, decisive, and brave enough to penalize serious fouls and violent acts, and to maintain fairness on the field of play. This is the purest duty of the referee, but also the most beautiful blank in the law enforcement career.
