The Chinese team drew 0:0 with the Lebanese team in the second round of the group stage of the Asian Cup, the result of this game can be said to be extremely unfavorable for the emergence of the Chinese team, although we did not play particularly well, this 0:0 have some luck, but in this game, some of the penalties of the Korean referee Gao Hengjin did cause dissatisfaction among the fans, and even had a very important impact on the trend of the game. Many Chinese fans believe that South Korean referee Gao Hengjin is retaliating for some of the actions of Chinese referee Ma Ning when he blew the South Korean game.
In South Korea's first match of the Asian Cup, although they defeated the Bahrain team 3:1, but in the process of the game, Ma Ning, a famous referee from China, showed five yellow cards to the South Korean team in a game, which also made South Korea the team with the most yellow cards in a single game so far, so the South Korean media was seriously dissatisfied with Ma Ning's law enforcement at that time, so there is a statement that our Chinese fans think that Gao Hengjin is retaliating against the Chinese team.
Now the AFC has also given the first fine so far in the Asian Cup, maybe this fine can give our Chinese team a revenge, and we are also angry. Ma Ning's decision at that time was completely unproblematic and was recognized by the AFC. Because the AFC has officially announced the punishment of the South Korean team today, the South Korean team was fined $3,000 for receiving five yellow cards in the game.
The AFC of this Asian Cup has a full rule, players in a single game to eat five or more yellow cards, players plus staff, coaches to eat six or more yellow cards, will be fined, each yellow card will be fined 600 US dollars, the South Korean team because of the five yellow cards in this game, should pay a fine of 3000 US dollars, which fully shows that Ma Ning gave five yellow cards at that time, none of them is problematic. The five yellow cards were determined by the 30-member referee committee of the AFC to be compliant, so the AFC gave the corresponding punishment to the South Korean team, so Ma Ning's law enforcement was recognized by the AFC.
On the other hand, Gao Hengjin, in the match between the Chinese team and the Lebanese team, the Lebanese player kicked in the face of our players in the opening stage. Let our player Dai Weijun stain the field with blood on the spot, this is a 100% red card action. However, Gao Hengjin did not give any indication, and the 30-member AFC referee committee unanimously ruled that it was a missed judgment and that the Lebanese player should be given a red card. Therefore, the two latest rulings are indeed far ahead of the South Korean team in Chinese football, at least in terms of the level of referees. Chinese football can be regarded as not being able to fight for a breath on the field, but off the field, the level of our referees has been recognized by the AFC.
It is worth mentioning that Ma Ning and Gao Hengjin are the referees of this Asian Cup, they have been selected into the AFC's elite referee list, and it is possible to enforce the referees of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada in the future.