The official announcement of the AFC on March 5 announced that Jordanian referee Mark Hadmeh will partner two assistants to officiate the AFC Champions League quarterfinal match between Shandong Taishan and Yokohama Marinos. The match will begin at 18:00 on March 6 at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium, but the news has inspired many questions from fans.
Mark Hadmeh has quite a lot of enforcement experience and is fully capable of handling this important match. The mid-career referee, born in 1986, has been a key focus of the AFC in recent years. He has enforced the 2023 Asian Cup, as well as major tournaments such as the 2019 Asian Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and has been involved in 77 international matches so far.
Mark Hadmeh also has a long association with Chinese soccer, having been invited to officiate the Super Cup matches between Shanghai Shenhua and the former Shanghai Dongya in 2013 and 2008, which Shenhua won 2-1. In addition, in 2019, he officiated the AFC Champions League match between Shandong Taishan and Johor, which Taishan won 2-1.
However, why is this experienced referee worrying fans? It starts with the recently concluded Asian Cup.
On February 10, Qatar drew 3:3 with Jordan in the Asian Cup final, eventually winning the title with a penalty shootout. Chinese referee Ma Ning, who stood on the stage of the Asian Cup final for the first time, awarded three penalties to Qatar, and although this caused a certain degree of controversy, the outside world is generally considered to be accurate.
However, the penalty angered the Jordanian team. Many Jordanian players protested Manning's call online.
Therefore, when the Jordanian referee officiated the Chinese Super League team, fans were worried that the referee would take unfavorable calls against Shandong Taishan.
Fans' concerns are rooted in their love for the team, but they may be unnecessary.
The Asian Cup and the AFC Champions League are completely different in nature, and national team and club matches are not the same. We have every reason to believe that the experienced Mark Hadmeh will show his professionalism with fair penalties and win further recognition from the AFC. The Shandong Taishan team has also been showing good style of play, and as long as the team focuses on the game and avoids making mistakes on their own initiative, there is no need to worry about external influences.
