On May 12, as night fell, an explosive piece of news quietly fermented in the Beijing Youth Daily: our world-class referee team, led by Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Cao Yi, Shi Xiang, plus their world-class assistant referees, was about to miss the legal first match of the Chinese Super League, under the assignment of the AFC.
The elite team of referees is reportedly about to embark on a tour of Oman and Bahrain to take part in the group stage of the AFC Cup, which will be held from May 18th to 24th. After the tournament, they will then head to Uzbekistan to prepare for the final stage of the fifth U23 Asian Cup, which starts in June. As a result, the four top referees will miss the opening games of the Super League.
With the new Chinese Super League (CSL) season on the horizon, the curtain will be raised as early as June 3rd. However, the four Chinese referees will continue to be on assignment in Uzbekistan and will not be able to return to China to participate in the legal work of the Chinese Super League. In the face of such an unexpected situation, the CFA Referee Committee has been planning for a long time. In addition to the four referees mentioned above, 90 referees (including assistant referees) have already participated in the pre-season training of the professional league in late April as the alternative referees of the Chinese Super League, ensuring that there are people to take over the legal work of the league.
