Recently, veteran reporter Xu Yi had the honor of talking to Xing Qi, the first referee from Zhejiang to officiate in the Chinese Super League. Xing Qi firmly stated that he has never encountered an attempt by a team to use money as bait.
Xing Qi began his soccer career at the Jiaxing Junior Sports School and then entered the Physical Education Department of Zhejiang Normal University for further study. His love for soccer never waned, and by chance, his teacher suggested that he try refereeing. At first, Xing Qi did not take this suggestion seriously, thinking that refereeing is not as interesting as playing soccer. However, his teacher's advice that "a soccer career is limited, but a refereeing career can be much longer" made him come to his senses. During his college years, Xing Qi obtained his referee qualification, and was promoted to national referee in 2007, qualified to referee in the Second Division League in 2008, and climbed to the top of the ladder again in 2013, when he was promoted to the Central League.
Refereeing requires strong mental qualities, which Xing Qi believes are sharpened through one game at a time: "The adaptation period is inevitable, and the coaches and players sometimes apply pressure, which are unavoidable challenges."
In 2007, when Xing Qi blew a penalty in a provincial women's soccer match, a female coach objected to the whole match and even started to hurl insults. Facing the pressure, Xing Qi chose to bear the humiliation and finally sent the coach out of the game at the critical moment, and the game went on smoothly. Xing Qi said that this experience greatly improved his ability to deal with the scene.
In the previous years, when Xing Qi was enforcing the law in the Central League, he chose to deal with the fans' doubts and the media's criticisms with a normal heart: "These are what the referees have to face. We will watch the game video and summarize the enforcement experience. For unreasonable reproaches and abuse, we have seen it and forget about it, and will not take it to heart."
Xing Qi also shared his own experience in law enforcement, "In the face of over-aggressive behavior of coaches and players, we must first determine their intentions, whether they are deliberately applying pressure, and then make the appropriate penalty, and never be led by the nose by the other side."
Chinese soccer has experienced counterfeiting and blackout, and the image of referees has been seriously affected. Xing Qi said, "Every profession has its excellence and shortcomings, as long as you do the right thing, you are not afraid of these. I love soccer and I love the job of refereeing, so I persist to this day."
Xing Qi recalled the rumors from his playing days, "There seemed to be some chaos in the soccer world at that time, with all kinds of rumors." However, he emphasized that he had never encountered any monetary bribes from teams since he became a referee: "I can responsibly say that I have never encountered such a situation. After that rectification, the atmosphere of Chinese soccer is much better now, and refereeing has been standardized."
Xing Qi revealed that the four referees will move together with the two competition supervisors after arriving at the venue of the match, "Except for sleeping, everyone has to be together, and going out in the car is also a collective action." It is not the home team that receives the referees, but the local football association, which is also to prevent the referees from favoring the home team.
