On April 7, the night sky in West Asia shone brightly for the opening of the 2022 season of the AFC Champions League West Asia Region tournament. A Beijing Youth Daily reporter revealed the secret of China's refereeing community: four world-class referees, Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Cao Yi and Shi Xiang, who shone in the Legal 12 tournament at the end of last month, have chosen to stay in West Asia to referee the upcoming AFC Champions League matches. This may be their "last battle" to qualify for the final stage of the Qatar World Cup.
As AFC's elite referees, Maning, Fu Ming, Cao Yi and Shi Xiang have made repeated appearances in Qatar's World Qualifiers tournaments in the Asian region, such as Maning's enforcement of major tournaments such as the first meeting between Iran and Iraq. Despite the epidemic restricting their international travel, the CFA created relatively convenient conditions for them. They even took advantage of the national football team's trip to West Asia to participate in the 40-team tournament, and traveled to the national football team's home base during the breaks of different tournaments to "rest their feet" and assist in completing the international journey.
Over the past year, their outstanding performances in the AFC Champions League, Asian Zone tournaments of the World Qualifiers, Tokyo Olympics, and Women's Salon tournaments have earned them high recognition from the AFC refereeing department. Earlier this year, the AFC has written to the CFA inviting them to enforce the final two rounds of the 12-team tournament.
In the Iraq team against the United Arab Emirates team in the 9th round of the 12 strong match, our nationality world-class referee group successful law enforcement, and then in the 10th round of the Iranian team against the Lebanese team in the match to complete the "final battle". Ma Ning and Fu Ming were the referees of these two matches.
After the enforcement of the "battle of Iraq and Lebanon", they did not return to their home country, but went straight to Saudi Arabia. Because the new season of the AFC Champions League West Asia Region tournament will be held from April 7 to 27 in Saudi Arabia. International travel restrictions during the epidemic have kept them in West Asia since their March 21 departure from home.
It is worth mentioning that these four referees of my nationality have already entered the refereeing lineup for the final stage of the World Cup in Qatar. The AFC will select the most qualified referees into the World Cup enforcement lineup based on the performance of each of its elite world-class referees (including assistant referees and video assistant referees). Therefore, the next AFC Champions League enforcement will be an important test for them.
From the current situation, these four referees of my nationality will definitely miss the first stage of the new Chinese Super League season. However, in the eyes of the CFA and the referees themselves, it is worth the effort. After all, if the referees of our nationality can return to international matches, it will be a great encouragement to the refereeing sector and even the Chinese soccer sector.
