The 28th round of the Chinese Super League is underway, Shanghai Port and Shanghai Shenhua teams played two games in this round that were enough to affect the ownership of the championship, Port lost 1-3 to Chengdu Rongcheng away, and Shanghai Shenhua beat Henan team at home, Shenhua overtook Port by 1 point and rose to the top of the standings. The situation of the two teams directly produced a huge change of 6 points, Shenhua finally saw the hope of winning the championship after a few months of nervous chasing, and firmly grasped the opportunity to win the championship in their own hands, while Harbour had to see the results of Shenhua's two games to have a chance to defend the title.
With two games remaining, the two teams are separated by just one point, which makes the remaining two rounds very important, and a controversial decision in either game can be enough to affect the final result. In view of the fact that at such a critical moment, the referee's decision is very important, in order to avoid the controversy caused by the referee's decision, the Football Association decided to invite the AFC elite referees to officiate the last two rounds of the Chinese Super League, which is the first time Song Kai has made such a decision after taking office.
The last time there was a foreign referee in the domestic arena was in 2020, when several teams in the domestic league suffered a very serious misjudgment, which caused great controversy, and even the referee was investigated, so several Korea referees were introduced to enforce the Chinese Super League. Although there are fewer controversial penalties this season, in order to ensure that there are no accidents in the key matches of the last two rounds, the Football Association still decided to invite foreign referees, including the FA Cup final. It's not that we don't trust domestic referees, it's just that we want to avoid these non-game factors from influencing the game.
In the next league, Shenhua will directly face off against Chengdu Rongcheng, which ranks third, and it is Chengdu that won the harbor in this round and indirectly helped Shenhua, so the direct confrontation between Shenhua and Chengdu is very crucial, and I believe that there will be an AFC elite referee in this game. In addition, there are several games in the relegation battle that are also quite crucial, and there may also be an elite AFC referee to enforce the law. Since the cost of inviting referees is not high, but it can play a relatively large role, this decision still has some support.
In addition, the AFC elite referees will often deal with Chinese football in the future, such as the national team games, the AFC Champions League matches of the Chinese Super League teams, our team will always encounter these referees, not to mention a good relationship with them in advance, it is also very useful to understand their law enforcement standards in advance. To avoid Chinese teams in the international arena, they always suffer some penalties-related losses, so from this point of view, it is still necessary to invite foreign referees.