In the spring breeze of March 9, China's soccer field came heavy news: the Chinese Football Association (CFA) officially announced that Ms. Zhang Lingling, a well-known physical fitness expert in the international football world, will be the CFA referee physical fitness director, a move that will undoubtedly inject new vitality into the physical fitness of Chinese soccer referee teams.
Official announcement as such:
CFA hires Zhang Lingling as director of referee fitness
In order to improve the physical fitness quality of China's soccer referees and to strengthen the core role of physical fitness experts in referee training, the CFA made a decisive decision to hire Ms. Zhang Lingling to take up this important position.
Ms. Zhang Lingling, female, CPC member, former international assistant referee, has been honorably retired from the game. After her retirement, Ms. Zhang devoted herself to the field of soccer referee physical fitness and became a referee physical fitness instructor for FIFA and CFF. Currently, she is a teacher and associate professor in the Football Teaching and Research Department of Shandong Sports Institute. She has a Master's degree from Shanghai Institute of Physical Education, and is studying for her PhD at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Her rich theoretical knowledge of physical education and pedagogy makes her unique in referee fitness training.
Ms. Zhang Lingling has been involved in the enforcement of a number of international competitions, including the 2011 Women's World Cup, the 2010 Asian Games, four National Games from 2001 to 2013, and the finals of the 2008 World Junior Women's World Cup in New Zealand, 2010 in Trinidad & Tobago and 2012 in Azerbaijan. She was honored as the AFC 2009 Assistant Referee of the Year and the CFA 2013 Golden Flag of the Year.
After her retirement, Ms. Zhang Lingling continued her education in the field of referee fitness and became a participant in the FIFA Referee Fitness Instructor Training. With her hard work and dedication, she has risen to the top of the fitness instructor ranks in Asia and has served as a referee fitness instructor for a number of Olympic Games, Women's World Cups, Junior Women's World Cups, Asian Games and other tournaments. As a contracted instructor for the FIFA Global Football Referee Development Program, Ms. Zhang Lingling is responsible for instructing the basic referee fitness training courses in many Asian countries, as well as the daily training of referee candidates for the FIFA Women's World Cup.
According to the work plan drawn up by CFA and Ms. Zhang Lingling, during the appointment period, she will formulate scientific training programs for referees of different levels of leagues for both men and women, track the fitness status of key referees and analyze and improve the database of referees' fitness information. At the same time, she will train and develop a team of physical fitness instructors to improve the physical fitness level of CFA referees, promote the implementation of physical fitness training for referees, provide a reference basis for the identification of potential referees and reserves, and help China's soccer refereeing career to move towards a higher peak.
