Doha, February 8 (Xinhua) -- The AFC announced on the 8th that the referee team composed of Chinese referees Ma Ning, Zhou Fei, Zhang Cheng and Fu Ming will officiate the final of the men's Asian Cup held on the 10th, which is the first time in the history of the Chinese referee team to officiate at the final of the event.
On the 10th, the host Qatar team and the Jordan team will compete for the Asian Cup championship at Lusail Stadium. According to the AFC arrangement, Ma Ning will serve as the referee of the final, Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng will serve as assistant referees, and Fu Ming will serve as the assistant referee of this game.
In this Asian Cup, Ma Ning served as the referee of three games in the quarterfinals between Iran and Japan, Qatar and Palestine in the quarterfinals, and South Korea and Bahrain in the group stage. Fu Ming served as the referee for two matches between Tajikistan and Jordan in the quarterfinals, India and Uzbekistan in the group stage, and served as an assistant referee in many games. Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng served as assistant referees in many games.
In the various games participating in law enforcement, the four Chinese referees showed a high accuracy rate of blowing penalties, and the refereeing level was generally praised.
In recent years, Chinese referees have made breakthroughs in a number of international football competitions. In 2022, Ma Ning and assistant referees Shi Xiang and Cao Yi were selected into the list of referees for the Qatar World Cup. At the beginning of 2023, Ma Ning, as the head referee, joined forces with Zhou Fei, Zhang Cheng, and Fu Ming (as assistant referees) to officiate the opening match of the 2022 Morocco Club World Cup, which was the first time that the referee team from China officiated this FIFA top competition. In December 2023, Fu Ming and assistant referees Cao Yi and Ma Ji officiated the third and fourth finals of the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup, which was also the first time that a Chinese referee played after the semifinals in a FIFA tournament.