From May 30 to June 15, Suzhou will welcome a soccer feast - the remaining matches in Group A of the Qatar World Qualification Asian Zone Top 40 tournament. Just a short while ago, the AFC announced the refereeing lineup for this group of matches, with six referees and 4th officials, as well as eight assistant referees, set to officiate.
Kim Hee Gon
In this match without VAR technology, the professionalism and subjective judgment of the referees will play a crucial role. It is worth mentioning that the six international referees, including Kim Hee-Kun of South Korea, Taki of Singapore, and Sivakorn of Thailand, have refereed the matches of Chinese teams or Chinese Super League teams many times. In this regard, the Chinese players need to deeply understand the enforcement style of these referees and respect the referees while avoiding to lose points again on penalty issues.
As the date of the tournament approaches, the AFC has also completed the assignment of referees to ensure that they arrive at the tournament area without incident and in accordance with the quarantine regulations.
All participants, including the referees, must comply with strict quarantine regulations to ensure the smooth running of the competition. As the referees come from different countries, they must enter the country through Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
Refereeing in soccer has always been a major concern, and the refereeing lineup in Group A of the 40-team tournament has attracted a lot of attention from fans.
It is worth mentioning that VAR technology will not be introduced to the tournament, which means that the subjective judgment of the referees will be the key to sway the outcome of the matches. The AFC has confirmed that a total of 14 referees will be involved in the enforcement of the Group A matches.
The six referees are from Jordan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Thailand. Among them, South Korea's Kim Hee-Kun, Singapore's Taki, and Thailand's Sivakorn are old acquaintances from the Chinese soccer world.
Jin Xikun has officiated a number of key matches in the Chinese Super League and the AFC Cup. Taki has officiated China's matches against Syria. Sivakong, on the other hand, has officiated in the Chinese Super League and the East Asian Cup.
Muhammad Ali and Arturais have also enforced Chinese teams' matches. Although the Chinese team is relatively unfamiliar with the enforcement characteristics of these referees, the players can get a better understanding of their enforcement styles through the refereeing experts' explanations.
In the absence of VAR technology, the Chinese team needs to respect the referee and the rules more and devote themselves to the game. At the same time, the players should learn to maintain good communication with the referees to avoid unnecessary disputes.
