After the successful completion of the law enforcement task of the 18th Asian Cup finals, four Chinese referees, Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng, returned to Beijing from Doha, Qatar on the afternoon of February 11, Beijing time, and then returned to various places to reunite with their families. However, as the best referees of this Asian Cup, they have high ambitions and will embark on a new cycle of law enforcement work after less than a week of rest. Beijing Youth Daily learned from the AFC that the four of them and two other Chinese international referees Wang Di and Shen Yinhao confirmed that they will work together to enforce the 2023-24 AFC Champions League 1/8 finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the evening of February 21, local time.
In the just-concluded 18th Asian Cup Football Match, the Chinese international referee team with Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng as members did an excellent job in law enforcement. They respectively served as the chief referee, video assistant referee, and assistant referee to enforce the finals of this cup held on the evening of the 10th local time, and collectively won the best outstanding referee award in the competition. In the context of the Chinese team's early dismal exit from the group stage, the four of them saved the honor of Chinese football on the law enforcement stage, and actually laid the foundation for Chinese football referees to move towards a higher law enforcement stage in international football.
It is understood that the four Chinese referees went to Hamad International Airport in Doha on the night after finishing the law enforcement work of the Asian Cup final, and then took the flight that took off in the early morning of the 11th local time to return to China. After a long flight, they arrived in Beijing before 3 p.m. Beijing time on the 11th. Subsequently, several people went to various places to reunite with their families who were waiting for their return.
In fact, in order to do a good job in the law enforcement of football matches, especially international competitions, several registered international referees of the Chinese Football Association travel between cities in various competition areas at home and abroad all the year round, and they also give up their vacation and time to reunite with their families because they are engrossed in the pursuit of their careers. For example, Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng spent Chinese New Year's Eve in Doha for two consecutive years because they successively overtook major international competitions such as the Gulf Cup, Club World Cup, AFC Champions League and Asian Cup.
For them, it is a great honor to be able to appear on the stage of law enforcement in the Asian Cup final as the protagonist. However, they will not stop working hard to achieve higher goals. According to the results of the AFC's selection, the four of them will work with two other compatriots, Wang Di and Shen Yinhao, to jointly enforce the "Saudi derby" of Riyadh Victory VS Faha in the second leg of this season's AFC Champions League 1/8 finals.
According to the selection results, Ma Ning will serve as the referee of the game, Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng will serve as assistant referees, Wang Di, who has presided over the final of the 2016 U16 Asian Junior Championship, will serve as the fourth official of the game, and Fu Ming and Shen Yinhao will serve as the video assistant referee (VAR) and assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) respectively.
It is worth noting that as the hottest star in international football today, Ronaldo is playing for Riyadh Victory Club. Counting this game, there have been three Riyadh Victory matches this season in which Chinese referees have been refereed. Among them, Fu Ming was the officiator of the play-off Riyadh Victory vs Dubai Youth Nationals of the United Arab Emirates, while Ma Ning officiated the AFC Champions League group stage Group E Riyadh Victory's home match against Iran's Persepolis on the evening of November 27 local time. Zhou Fei, Zhang Cheng, Wang Di, Zhang Lei, and Shen Yinhao, five Chinese referees, also participated in the law enforcement work of the game. This is also the most important "training" before Ma Ning, Zhou Fei, and Zhang Cheng went to the Asian Cup law enforcement stage.
In addition to the above 6 people, Liu Tiejun, a former international assistant referee who is an AFC referee instructor, will also go to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the same time, and he will supervise and participate in the law enforcement work of the second leg of the AFC Champions League 1/8 finals on the evening of February 22, local time, Saudi Riyadh Crescent's home match against Iran's Sepahan. Interestingly, the main object of Liu Tiejun's "supervision" is actually Hassan, who is a famous post in the United Arab Emirates and once officiated the Asian Cup knockout match.
To be able to continue to be selected in the key battles of major competitions hosted by the AFC, the ability and performance of Chinese referees or referees have been fully affirmed and trusted by the AFC. The Chinese referee's impact on the 2026 World Cup law enforcement qualification will never just stay in the imagination.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Xiao Yun
Editor/Wang Fan