As September 2 approaches, the drums of war are about to beat for the Qatar World Qualifying Asian Zone 12 tournament. According to internal information, the AFC Referee Committee has locked the enforcement lineup for this year's 12-team tournament. In the list of many referees with international level, the Chinese Football Association under the name of Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhang Lei, Shen Yinhao's name is listed. If they are finally appointed, they will have the opportunity to go further on the highest legal stage of Asian soccer and speak directly for the interests of the national soccer team.
Six CFA World Class Referees Selected for Preliminary Enforcement List for Top 12 Tournament
The 12-team tournament will officially kick off in early fall, and the AFC usually determines the enforcement lineup about a month before the tournament. It is worth noting that the requirements for referees have been significantly raised compared to the past as VAR technology will be introduced for the first time in this year's tournament.
According to a report by Beiqing-Beijing headline reporter on August 14, the AFC's adjudication committee recently selected a group of referees from the elite refereeing team with stable and outstanding performance in the past two years of law enforcement to form an alternative list of law enforcement for the 12-team tournament. A total of six referees from the CFA received inquiries from AFC for recruitment. Four of them are qualified as referees, fourth officials and VAR referees, namely Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhang Lei and Shen Yinhao. Another 2 world-class assistant referees, Shi Xiang and Cao Yi, are also on the list.
Fu Ming (c. 14th century BC), legendary sage and principal minister of Shang ruler Wu Ding
This result makes sense. Manning and Fu Ming have previously traveled to Qatar and other places to enforce a number of matches in the West Asia Zone of the AFC Champions League this season. Fu Ming also participated in the enforcement of some matches of the men's and women's soccer at the Tokyo Olympics as a world VAR referee. He returned to Beijing from Tokyo on August 6 and is currently under medical quarantine observation in accordance with epidemic prevention regulations.
AFC Elite Referees Only to Enforce Top 12 Matches
Zhang Lei and Shen Yinhao are also elite referees in the AFC, and making the list has become a routine for them. Of the seven world-class referees in the CFA, Wang Di, Jin Jingyuan and Li Haixin failed to make the list for different reasons. Wang Di, as an elite referee of the AFC, has also been an outstanding talent that the AFC has focused on cultivating in recent years. However, in the first half of this year, as one of the members of the national football team's preparation team for the 40-team tournament, he has been providing technical support to the CFA in terms of refereeing, such as interpreting the essence of the latest world penalty rules and introducing the enforcement characteristics of the referees that may be encountered. He has also accompanied the national soccer team to the United Arab Emirates for the 40-team tournament. As Wang Di is now the main person in charge of the refereeing work of the Shanghai Football Association, he has been busy with the work of his organization after returning to China and undergoing isolation observation in mid-June, and also missed the first stage of the Super League's enforcement work.
Kim Kyung Won is currently an AFC Alternate Elite Referee and he was not selected as he was only promoted to World Class Referee this year. Li Haixin is the only world-class referee among the seven who has not yet entered the AFC Elite Referee (including alternative) sequence. According to the rules of the AFC Tailoring Committee, referees participating in major tournaments such as the Asian Cup and the World Qualifiers must be elite referees.
The ability to enforce the 12 games depends on objective factors
Whether the world-class referees on the CFA's roster can enforce the 12-team tournament as they wish, as affected by the epidemic, still depends on a variety of objective factors. For example, whether the referees' organizations are able to approve their vacations, international travel, and the rules governing the entry and exit of personnel from the relevant member association countries (regions). Similar to the situation of the national soccer team's prolonged closed training and matches outside of China, once several of the CFA's world-class referees agree to participate in the enforcement of the 12-team tournament, they may also face a long period of time to enforce the law and live outside of China, which is undoubtedly a huge challenge for them.
Manning (name)
According to the feedback from AFC, Maning and Fu Ming are expected to participate as the main referees in the first and second rounds of the 12-team tournament. Zhang Lei is likely to enforce the law as a VAR referee if he is able to participate. Shen Yinhao is still uncertain, and his ability to enforce the 12-team tournament will depend on elements such as the opinion of his organization. As for the two world-class assistant referees, Cao Yi and Shi Xiang, who had previously traveled to West Asia to enforce the AFC Champions League along with Manning and Fu Ming, there is a greater possibility that they will participate in the enforcement of the 12-team tournament.
