Relying on his age advantage, he was recommended by the Chinese Football Association as a local whistle. "New" Tang Shunqi was promoted


　　to the international referee lineup of Chinese football after

being promoted to

85.

　　A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily has recently learned that compared with 2021, the candidates for international referees and international assistant referees recommended by the Chinese Football Association for 2022 have been adjusted to a certain extent.

Among them, 33-year-old Tang Shunqi, who is registered with the Chengdu Football Association, will be among the 7-member Chinese Football Association's registered international referee lineup for the first time if nothing happens. He is replaced by Li Haixin from Guangdong.

　　It is understood that Tang Shunqi was recommended by the Chinese Football Association mainly by virtue of his age advantage.

The AFC stipulates that candidates who declare for an international referee for the first time must not exceed the age of 35.

In recent years, the Chinese Football Association has directed its goal of recommending international referees to young referees born in the 1985s like Jin Jingyuan and Tang Shunqi. In fact, it is strictly following the AFC's selection mechanism for international referees.

In other words, only referees who meet the age requirements have the opportunity to be among the elite referees of the AFC and thus have the opportunity to enforce the law in various competitions.

　　The Chinese Football Association has adjusted for 6 consecutive years

　　Recommended candidates for international referees

　　In accordance with the requirements of FIFA, each member association shall submit to FIFA the recommended list of candidates for the next year's international referees (including international assistant referees) from September to October each year, and then announce the final candidates at the beginning of the new year.

A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily was informed that in October this year, the Chinese Football Association submitted a list of international referees recommended by the Association in 2022.

Compared with the 2021 recommended list, the new list has changed.

Specifically, FIFA is still in accordance with the "7 (referee) + 9 (assistant referee)" standard to determine the 2022 Chinese Football Association's international-level referee quota.

However, among the 7 recommended candidates for international referees, 6 are the 2021 international referees certified by FIFA. They are Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Zhang Lei, Shen Yinhao, Wang Di, and Jin Jingyuan.

The international referee Li Haixin in 2019 and 2020 was replaced by Tang Shunqi.

　　The list of 2022 international assistant referees recommended by the Chinese Football Association has been adjusted for two candidates.

The senior international assistant referee Song Xiangyun and the relatively young Yang Yang were applied by the Chinese Football Association to revoke their international qualifications because they were 45 years old and had no law enforcement experience in the Super League this season. The two newly recommended are the 32-year-old Luo Zheng. And the 35-year-old Tang Chao.

　　Counting this recommendation, the Chinese Football Association has adjusted the recommended candidates for international referees (including international assistant referees) for 6 consecutive years.

In this process, the concept of "AFC Elite Referees" has become a core element that affects the results of the recommendation.

Statistics show that as Chinese football has become more closely integrated with international football in recent years, the selection and assignment of referees by the Chinese Football Association has become more "international trend", and groups of young and potential referees have successively participated in various levels of domestic professional leagues. , Emerged in the cup.

Obviously, the Chinese Football Association pays special attention to improving refereeing work to strive for more benefits for Chinese football.

　　Chinese Football Association on the register

　　International referees tend to be younger

　　With more and more local young referees being reused, the age structure of international referees registered by the Chinese Football Association has changed, and international referees tend to be younger in general.

For example, Jin Jingyuan was only 31 years old when he was promoted to an international referee at the beginning of this year.

Tang Shunqi, who was recommended in the second half of this year, and the two international assistant referee candidates Luo Zheng and Tang Chao were both "post-85s."

This objectively satisfies the AFC's rigid requirement that "the age of an international referee for the first application must not exceed 35".

　　In fact, among the 7 international-level referees registered by the Chinese Football Association in 2021, except for Li Haixin, the other 6 have been among the elite or candidate elite referee camps of the AFC at different times.

By convention, only international referees who enter the elite camp have the opportunity to be assigned by the AFC to participate in such as the World Preliminary Asian Top 40 and 12 Finals, the Asian Cup, the Asian Youth Championship, the AFC Champions League, etc. Enforcement of major international competitions.

Those who fail to enter the camp, even if they are recommended by the relevant member associations as international referees, will find it difficult to obtain the opportunity to enforce international competitions, even for international warm-up competitions.

　　Take Wang Jing and Li Haixin, who were also promoted to international referees in 2019, as an example. Although the two had previously enforced some international tournaments in China, they have not been able to get the opportunity to go abroad to enforce major international competitions.

Since Wang Jing and Li Haixin were both at least 38 years old when they were promoted to international referees for the first time, they are unlikely to be eligible for the elite referee camp of the AFC. Therefore, the Chinese Football Association recommends Jin Jingyuan and Tang Shunqi respectively. Ability is irrelevant, and more factors of age will be the basis for the choice between the later two.

　　Objectively speaking, Li Haixin has performed very well in domestic competitions in the past two years.

As of the start of the 19th round of the Chinese Super League, Li Haixin, as the referee, has enforced 13 Chinese Super League games this season, 2 more games than the international referee Zhang Lei’s main post this season. The most referees.

But considering that local referees are facing "international competition", the Chinese Football Association has to reluctantly give up.

　　Of course, as a "newcomer" in the law enforcement arena of the Super League last season, Tang Shunqi performed well in the law enforcement of various domestic professional sequence competitions in the past two seasons.

So far, he has enforced a total of 11 games in the Super League this season.

It is not difficult to see that the professional league referee management department recognizes his ability and law enforcement performance.

　　Young referees "emergence"

　　Related to the special environment of football

　　The reason why young referees represented by Tang Shunqi and Tang Chao "emerged suddenly" is actually related to the special environment of China's professional football in the past two seasons.

Affected by the epidemic, the Chinese Football Association has drastically reduced the recruitment of foreign referees since last season. By this season, the "foreign whistle" has completely disappeared from the domestic professional arena.

In addition, affected by the epidemic and the national team’s preparations and participation in the World Preliminaries, the schedule of events such as the Super League has been unprecedentedly compact, and stricter enforcement requirements have been imposed on local referees.

While under pressure, local referees have undergone severe tests, which is very beneficial to the rapid growth of young local referees.

　　This year, registered international referees of the Chinese Football Association represented by Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Shen Yinhao, Cao Yi, and Shi Xiang (the latter two are international assistant referees) were assigned by the AFC to participate in the AFC Champions League and Qatar. Fu Ming also participated in the law enforcement of some major competitions in the World Preliminary 40 and 12 finals. Fu Ming also participated in the law enforcement of the Tokyo Olympic football game, and his performance was well received by all parties.

Ma Ning, Fu Ming and others are even expected to join the Qatar World Cup finals law enforcement camp.

Such a result actually constitutes a spur to the young local referees.

The Chinese Football Association has adjusted the recommended candidates for international referees year after year, to a certain extent in order to invigorate the internal competition among local referees and further optimize the level of enforcement of local referees.

　　Text/Reporter Xiao Geng Coordinating/Du Rui