On August 22, Beijing Youth Daily disclosed that the refereeing performance in the U21 League has gradually become a key indicator for judging the ability of young referees. Referee support from the Chinese Super League and China First Division has significantly raised the enforcement standard of the U21 League. Referees at all levels have competed with each other in the enforcement arena, which has jointly promoted the excellence of the professional league's referee team.
Since the U21 League resumed in full swing in 2022, the CFA has placed a high priority on enforcement, with international referee Ma Ning refereeing the opening match on October 25, 2022, and Guangdong national referee Gan Shuran refereeing the U21 League Final Stage 3 (10th Round) match between Henan U21 and Chengdu Rongcheng U21 on August 17, just six days after refereeing the Qingdao West Coast's home match against Beijing in the Chinese Super League.
Unlike the past two seasons when Chinese Super League referees were sporadically enforcing the U21 League, the CFA refereeing department has selected Chinese Super League and Chinese League A referees to serve as full-time referees at all stages of the U21 League. Taking the current U21 League as an example, 26 referees are divided into Kunming Ridge and Yuxi enforcement zones (13 people in each zone), of which each zone is equipped with one Chinese Super League referee and two Chinese First Division referees, while the other referees are mostly national referees who have the qualification to enforce the Chinese Second Division League.
The referees of the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League A selected for the U21 League are not "relegated". Relevant staff revealed that with the full implementation of the "Super, A and B League Promotion and Relegation System" by the CFA, referees at all levels of the professional league are facing the pressure of elimination, so they are eager to participate in as many law enforcement matches as possible, in order to improve the rating, or to fight for promotion, to avoid relegation. Although the U21 League is not a professional league in the strict sense, its referee evaluation mode and scoring method are exactly the same as that of professional leagues, which is also the reason why it attracts Chinese Super League referees.
Excellent enforcement performance in the U21 League can bring referees higher level professional league enforcement opportunities. For example, Beijing international referee Guo Xiang was honored as the best referee in the U21 League and was promoted to referee in China's first division. Beijing referee Chen Jindong, who refereed the China U16 Men's Football Team's match against Japan U16 in the Peace Cup International Invitation Tournament in Shenyang, also benefited from his excellent enforcement in the 2022 U21 League.
There are now 120 registered referees in the Chinese Second Division League, which is mainly due to the centralized system of matches adopted in the past few seasons, where some referees had the opportunity to enforce the law at different stages. In the past two years, professional tournaments have resumed the normal match system, and the number of times the referees of the Second Division League have enforced the law is limited, especially the number of times they have been the main referees. In addition, there is no fixed status division for referees in the Second Division, which is a challenge for them.
In addition to fulfilling the task of law enforcement, the referees of the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League A have also assumed the responsibility of training young referees. With their rich experience and knowledge, senior referees share with young referees strategies to deal with emergencies, emotional outbursts of participants, and even to deal with challenges and provocations.
