On May 6, Beijing time, the Chinese Basketball Association officially issued a document confirming that there is currently only one foreign referee in China, that is, South Korean referee Li Jinghuan. Li Jinghuan has previously refereed the Liaoyue semi-finals G2, and according to the schedule, he has not been arranged to referee the Liaoyue semi-finals G3, but will referee the semi-finals G3 between Xinjiang and Zhejiang.
Previously, the Chinese Basketball Association has said that it will invite foreign referees to adjudicate the CBA semifinals and finals. The official document of the Chinese Basketball Association stated the purpose of this move: "It is the long-term plan of the association to train and develop referees in accordance with the international benchmark and strengthen the referee exchanges with FIBA and FIBA Asia, and international exchanges are also one of the key tasks of the referee committee of the Chinese Basketball Association." ”
From the 2003-2004 season to the 2012-2013 season, the CBA invited foreign referees to China to adjudicate, and the referees invited by the Chinese Basketball Association to referee in China this time are all Asian referees.
However, according to the information released by the Chinese Basketball Association, there is only one foreign referee in China at present, that is, South Korean referee Li Jinghuan, who has become the first Korean referee in the history of the CBA.
Lee Kyung-hwan is an elite FIBA referee with extensive refereeing experience, having refereed the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers, the 2023 World University Games, and the 2022 FIBA U17 Men's Basketball World Cup.
Li Jinghuan has only refereed the semi-finals G2 of Guangdong VS Liaoning, and considering that there is only one foreign referee at present, the Chinese Basketball Association officially said: "In view of the fact that there is only one foreign referee in China, we will comprehensively consider the competition schedule, referee itinerary and other objective conditions, and reasonably arrange the number of referees in the two series." In the semi-finals G3, foreign referees will adjudicate the match between Zhejiang and Xinjiang as planned. ”
In the future, the Chinese Basketball Association will communicate with FIBA to select Chinese referees to adjudicate in high-level professional leagues in Europe, communicate with international high-level leagues in the summer, appoint referee lecturers to teach in China, and communicate with basketball associations in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to invite their referees to referee professional leagues or comprehensive games in the mainland.