Fu Ming presided over the third place in the World Junior Championship and took another step towards the World Cup
On December 1, Beijing time, the men's U17 World Cup (hereinafter referred to as the World Junior Championships) third place match was held at the Manahan Stadium in Sulagada, Indonesia, and the referee of the game was Fu Ming from China - he also became the first Chinese referee to play after the semifinals of the FIFA Men's World Series held in China, creating a new history, and at the same time, it also added weight to his list of referees for the next World Cup.
In this game, Mali defeated Argentina 3-0 and won the third place. Judging from the process, Fu Ming controlled it well and ensured the smooth progress of the game. In this game, he showed a total of 2 yellow cards, 1 for each team, and there was almost no disagreement between the two sides.
After the game, Fu Ming and his assistant shook hands with each other and encouraged each other. So far, Fu Ming and the Chinese referee team have all successfully concluded the law enforcement of this tournament, and their performance has won the recognition of the FIFA referee department. Fu Ming's next big goal should be to "impact" the next World Cup.
The current refereeing circle of Chinese football, there are two leading figures, one is Ma Ning, the other is Fu Ming, Ma Ning's law enforcement experience is richer, not to mention Asian events, worldwide, he was shortlisted for the Qatar World Cup referee list, although it is a pity that he did not enforce the law as the referee, but 6 times as the fourth official "appearance", it is also a certain degree of dream; in February this year, in the Club World Cup, Ma Ning enforced the opening game, and also served as the fourth official in the final.
As for Fu Ming, who is 4 years younger than Ma Ning, his path seems to be a bit "crooked", in 2014, he was promoted to the international level, and in 2015, he became an AFC elite referee, and he was also selected to officiate some continental competitions, but in recent years, he has been more in the role of VAR (video assistant referee) in major competitions: the 2019 U20 World Youth Championship, the 2022 Tokyo Olympics, and the 2023 Club World Cup. Although VAR is less restrictive and easier to get opportunities, as an international referee, of course, there are more expectations for being able to enforce as a referee.
Fortunately, this year Fu Ming is "back on track". In September, he first joined Ma Ning as the referee to be shortlisted for the referee list of next year's Asian Cup, and then together with Cao Yi and Ma Ji, he was selected to officiate the U17 World Cup, and he also became the third Chinese referee to enforce the U17 World Junior Championship as a referee after Lu Jun in 1997 and Ma Ning in 2019, which means that he has also entered the referee inspection list for the next World Cup.
It is worth mentioning that a month before FIFA announced the list of referees for the World Junior Championship, Fu Ming attracted attention when he officiated the AFC Champions League play-offs.
On August 22, local time, Fu Ming served as the referee of the AFC Champions League play-offs between Riyadh Victory and Dubai Young Nationals. Afterwards, Fu Ming was angrily sprayed by domestic Ronaldo fans, calling him "embarrassing". But in the opinion of experts, the only mistake in Fu Ming's law enforcement was the missed handball in the penalty area, and there was no major problem with the other penalties, at least it was decent, and because there was no VAR in the play-offs, the mistake could not be corrected on the spot.
And Fu Ming was finally shortlisted for the World Junior Championships, which shows that the game did not have much impact on him, and indirectly justified his name. And the third place match of the World Junior Law Enforcement also made Fu Ming the first Chinese referee to play after the semifinals of the FIFA Men's World Series in 38 years.
In 1985, in the third-place match of the first World Junior Championship (then the U16 World Championship), Cui Baoyin from the Beijing Football Association officiated Brazil's 4-1 victory over Guinea, but China was the host at the time, and the third-place match and the subsequent final were played in the Gongti. After that, the Chinese referee has no chance to play the main whistle in the FIFA men's world championship, let alone the final.
In this World Junior Championships, there are a total of 3 referee groups in Asia to enforce the law, of which South Korea's Gao Hengjin only officiated two group games (New Caledonia 0-10 England, Germany 3-0 Venezuela), in addition, served as the fourth official in the 1/8 finals Germany VS United States; In the 8-match finals, France 5-3 (5-3 on penalties) Senegal and the third-place match, he was the fourth official. Fu Ming was able to be the last representative of the Asian referee, which shows that he has been valued and recognized.
Fu Ming and his assistants Cao Yi and Ma Ji, also enforced two games in the group stage, namely France 1-0 Burkina Faso and Ecuador 1-1 Panama, 1/8 finals, they officiated Germany 3-2 United States game, it should be said that the game was very difficult to enforce, and the physical confrontation between the two sides was fierce, but Fu Ming controlled it very well, and still ensured the smooth progress of the game when only one yellow card was shown in the whole game.
Fu Ming's performance was recognized by FIFA, and he was appointed to officiate the third-place match, and he also completed the game with an outstanding performance. In this World Junior Championships, Fu Ming has enforced 4 games, adding capital to the list of referees for the next World Cup, and in the future, there will be law enforcement of the AFC Champions League, Asian Cup and World Preliminaries waiting for him.
It is worth mentioning that in 2023, Chinese referees will attack in an all-round way, Ma Ning (partnered with Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng) has officiated 5 AFC Champions League matches, including the final matchup between Urawa Red Diamonds and Riyadh Crescent in the second leg of the 2022/23 final and 4 group games in the 2023/24 season, in addition, he also officiated the match between Syria and Japan in the round of 36 of the World Preliminary Tournament, and Shen Yinhao (partnered with Guo Jingtao and Luo Zheng) officiated the match of Nepal 0-2 Yemen in the round of 36 of the World Preliminary Tournament.