Ma Ning: I hope there will be Chinese referees in every World Cup [3 Chinese referees will be in the World Cup enforcement lineup again after a lapse of 20 years and will leave for Qatar tomorrow night]
On the evening of November 8, international referee Ma Ning will depart from Hangzhou to Doha, Qatar, together with international assistant referees Cao Yi and Shi Xiang.
Along with the glory, dream and mission, three Chinese international referees will officially start the Qatar World Cup law enforcement tour.
Before leaving, Ma Ning accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily.
Physically and in good shape
Beiqing Daily: Have you achieved the biggest goal of your personal law enforcement career by being able to enter the World Cup final stage of law enforcement?
Ma Ning: It's too early to achieve the biggest goal. After all, I haven't really entered the World Cup in Qatar, and I haven't really stood on the field of the World Cup.
I have also said before that in the entire career of refereeing and law enforcement, I have encountered many unexpected things.
Without standing on the World Cup field, without blowing the first whistle of World Cup law enforcement, you have to go all out to prepare.
Beiqing Daily: How is the preparation for the World Cup law enforcement work?
Ma Ning: My preparation is relatively good. I am well prepared in terms of physical fitness and state.
Recently, I have been doing Chinese Super League (match enforcement work) and can maintain a good state.
This period is a critical period for several of our physical reserves, and it is also very tiring.
The Chinese Football Association has given the three of us a lot of support. As far as the climate and environment of the domestic competition areas are concerned, only Hainan has a humidity and temperature that is closer to that of Qatar. Therefore, we have basically played in Hainan (law enforcement) recently.
Beiqing Daily: You have spent 11 years in the World Cup referee camp since you were promoted to international referee in the 2011 season.
Other than your own efforts, who are you most grateful for?
Ma Ning: The training of referees is not as easy as training athletes. The biggest feature is that the training time is long and the use cycle is short.
Most of the referees who can really enter the top domestic leagues and international arenas are over 30 years old, and some choose to retire when they are in their 40s or more, so their golden life cycle is relatively short.
The referee does not reach a certain level, and can directly act as the main force of the law enforcement team.
Like athletes, referees have to go through a considerable period of experience.
During this time, there are too many people to be thankful for.
At each stage, I will meet different Bole - the person who excavated me, and the person who created opportunities for me to improve in the industry.
Whether in the local Football Association, the Chinese Football Association, in the workplace or in the school where I went to school, I have met Jiren and noble people.
In other words, without these people who helped me at any stage, maybe I wouldn't be where I am today, or even be a referee.
So, my sincere thanks to everyone who helped, cared, and supported me while I was growing up.
"Always have confidence in yourself"
Beiqing Daily: Is it unexpected for you to be qualified for the World Cup in Qatar?
Ma Ning: The competition for referees at this World Cup is fierce.
Many domestic reports believe that the competition will not heat up until the game starts.
In fact, the competition is already underway, very fierce from the beginning, and it will not stop until the last moment.
In the selection of World Cup referees, FIFA and AFC will strictly examine the status of candidates in recent years, especially the stability of law enforcement - the most critical factor for various assessment basis.
From the perspective of referee work managers, referees with unstable performance may have their business recognition lowered, and they will also be adversely affected when they are assigned to enforce the game.
Moreover, referees need to have a lot of confidence.
Our industry is quite special. It does not mean that we must not make mistakes, but we can only say that we will do our best to do our best.
Personally, I have always had confidence in myself and have been meticulous in the enforcement process.
Beiqing Daily: Before joining the Qatar World Cup law enforcement team, did you accept and pass the long-term assessment?
Ma Ning: Maybe what everyone has seen or paid more attention to is my law enforcement performance in the past two years, but FIFA has a very long evaluation cycle for each World Cup candidate referee, even after we have just been selected As an international referee, the assessment has already begun.
Like domestic inspections and training of international referees, FIFA's assessment period for World Cup referees is not limited to the last two years before the game.
When the referees became international referees and AFC elite referees one after another, the AFC began to consciously inspect them, and preliminarily determined which ones could be trained as candidate referees for the World Cup.
After two years of investigation, if it is believed that some referees have no chance to go to the World Cup, then the AFC will arrange for them to enforce other sequences hosted by the AFC.
That's how I got up step by step.
At the end of 2013, I officially entered the field of work of FIFA and AFC on the investigation of candidate referees for the World Cup.
Among the referees who enforced the first U22 Asian Cup, many of them entered the law enforcement lineup for the World Cup, because that event was an important platform for the AFC to assess the referees for the World Cup.
After that match enforcement task was over, I officially entered the first-tier lineup of elite referees of the AFC, and could enforce all kinds of competitions of the highest level sponsored by the AFC.
When I went to Japan to enforce the first leg of the AFC Champions League final in the 2018 season, I had a hunch that I would definitely be on the shortlist of referees for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
So, I was also under a lot of pressure at the time.
Enforcement of the World Cup will not hold back
Beiqing Daily: On the World Cup stage, you may encounter more big-name players and top stars.
How would you respond?
Ma Ning: In recent years, the Chinese Super League has also introduced many top stars, and I have also enforced the games they participated in.
Over the years, I have also been law enforcement in many major intercontinental competitions. The experience of these competitions has made me not timid when it comes to law enforcement for the world's best teams.
Even if the stars are crowded, I don't hold back mentally.
For the referee, the rules are the yardstick of work, and the rules are not changed by people.
An important principle in the formulation of referee rules in football games is to protect the safety of players, and on this premise, strive to ensure the smoothness of the game.
The referee must ensure that the athletes play a superb technical level through law enforcement and ensure the excitement of the event.
In the recent period, our team has also been watching the video of competitions from different continents carefully to understand the characteristics of each team, including their technical and tactical play styles, so as to make preparations for better enforcement of the World Cup.
Beiqing Daily: Strict and unsmiling in law enforcement are your characteristics. Will it continue in the World Cup?
Ma Ning: I have a lot of experience in law enforcement with a smile. In the Chinese Super League games I have enforced, there are times when I did not show a red or yellow card throughout the game.
Like police handling cases, doctors treating illnesses, and teachers taking classes on the field, we have to adopt different methods according to different situations.
When you need to communicate and when you need to play cards in a timely manner are all based on comprehensive factors to make judgments.
In many law enforcement games, the communication between me and the team members is relatively good.
Pre-match physical and technical training
Beiqing Daily: After arriving in Qatar, what will be the general arrangement?
Ma Ning: After arriving in the competition area, we will first undergo a physical examination, and then undergo a physical examination. Referees whose physical fitness does not meet the standard cannot enforce the game.
Before the game, we have to undergo physical training and technical training.
In addition, we will enforce some simulated games involving professional athletes. The FIFA referee management team will set up difficult and complex scenes in the training to train our judgment and adaptability.
There are classes of simulated training scenarios that we may not have seen once in our law enforcement careers.
Of course, we also participate in video case studies.
FIFA will set us a standard for the enforcement of this tournament.
Now VAR technology has been fully involved in World Cup law enforcement, so all kinds of referees need to have a relatively unified understanding of the law enforcement scale and spirit, which is the reason for arranging a lot of training and setting simulation scenarios.
Beiqing Daily: The competition of World Cup referees is equally cruel. How will you deal with this escalating challenge or competition?
Ma Ning: In terms of physical reserves, my condition is very good.
When the FIFA referee management team saw my fitness stats, they gave me special recognition.
I participated in the second training course organized by FIFA in June this year.
After the physical examination, the physical fitness instructor announced to us the 5 data, my data ranked 1st in 4 of them, and the other ranked 3rd.
The person in charge of the FIFA fitness instructor who guided me will hold regular online meetings for us, and he even suggested that I reduce the training intensity and speed, because my data far exceeds the intensity in the training plan they made for me , they were afraid of me getting hurt.
In terms of technology, the World Cup enforcement work is indeed affected by a variety of factors.
In my opinion, if the technical and tactical level of football in a region has not developed to a certain height, the recognition of the referee's law enforcement may be correspondingly reduced.
Of course, the other factors that determine the appearance rate of referees in the World Cup are intricate, but the ability level is always the first factor that determines the prospects of referees.
Another important assessment factor is the difficulty of the game.
Just like diving, the starting score is related to the difficulty factor. Even if there is a slight flaw in the completion of the difficult movement, if the starting score is high, the result will not be too bad.
May Chinese referees appear in every World Cup
Beiqing Daily: What is the difference between you on and off the field?
Ma Ning: After a year, I do have to get together with friends after the season.
I am a football referee and a member of society, and I cannot be disconnected from society and life.
After work, it is really necessary to get together and communicate with relatives and friends.
Usually I don’t have any special hobbies. I haven’t even played football for more than 10 years. I am really afraid of getting injured. Especially as I grow older, the probability of injury will increase. I am afraid of delaying things. I have to be responsible for my career. .
In everyday life, I am a very easy-going person.
On the field, I never boast about the game based on personal likes and dislikes. All my actions are strictly based on the rules. When implementing the rules, the strictness must be strict.
Beiqing Daily: After the World Cup law enforcement, will there be more motivation to achieve more goals?
Ma Ning: We went to the World Cup (enforcement) to prove that we are capable of reaching the level of the world's top referees and to enter the World Cup enforcement lineup.
Of course, we must also clearly recognize the gap: in terms of physical conditions, I have no gap, and there may be advantages; my gap may be reflected in the understanding of football, we must learn from the advantages of referees in developed countries, and learn to learn from each other.
I also hope that Chinese referees will enforce the law in every World Cup. I hope that Chinese referees can go further in the international law enforcement arena and carry more weight in law enforcement games.
Including me, all Chinese referees should have lofty ideals and goals.
With lofty ideals, everyone can work hard in this direction.
Several of us are now only one of the phased goals.
I believe that our referees will appear in every World Cup in the future.
With the joint efforts of everyone, China's refereeing work will get better and better, and China's football competition level will be raised higher and higher.
This group of articles / reporter Xiao Xun
Coordination / Du Rui
Reporter's side note
3 referees play the role of pioneers
Although the competition on the World Cup law enforcement stage is no less fierce than the competition among the participating teams, Chinese referees have once again entered the World Cup law enforcement lineup after a lapse of 20 years. The team of Chinese referees entered the World Cup collectively for the first time. A glory worthy of being recorded in the history of Chinese football and Chinese football referees.
As the best Chinese football referees, the significance of Ma Ning and other three referees going to the Qatar World Cup is not only limited to fulfilling their personal dreams, but they also play a role in opening up new territories for more Chinese referees to enforce the law in top competitions. Pathfinder role.
In an exclusive interview, Ma Ning talked eloquently and laughed heartily from time to time. It seems that it is difficult for people to associate him with the image of the arena marshal who frequently played cards on the field, had a cold expression, and made those who violated the rules and regulations terrified. Together.
From the first time he entered the amateur competition field nearly 20 years ago, he seized the opportunity and transformed into an excellent local referee with the help of a good teacher. Later, he joined the elite referee lineup of the AFC with wisdom and diligence. Standing out among many international competitors and becoming a member of the Qatar World Cup law enforcement team, Ma Ning has really experienced ups and downs in the process of personal growth.
In his view, being among the World Cup referees is not the end of the dream.
Compared with personal achievements, he expects more and more local Chinese referees to step onto the highest law enforcement stage in international football. He even regards the "enforcement of the World Cup finals" as the direction that Chinese referees are striving to pursue.
"Beijing Youth Daily" November 7, 2022 Issue A06