Report from our newspaper (Reporter Li Li) Last night, the first match of the Asian Cup semi-finals in Qatar was played. The two teams were Jordan and South Korea. Chinese referee Ma Ning served as the fourth official in this game. This is the fourth time that Ma Ning has served as the fourth official in this Asian Cup, and it is also the first time that a Chinese referee has participated in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup.
In this Asian Cup, Ma Ning has officiated 6 games, including a quarter-final and a quarter-final, and served as the referee in these two knockout games.
In the officiating of these games, his performance was remarkable. In the group stage, Ma Ning showed a total of 7 yellow cards in the South Korean team's 3-1 match against Bahrain and all the penalties were well-founded. He was also praised by the AFC Refereeing Committee as a high-quality penalty case.
In the quarter-finals, Maning refereed the match between the host Qatar team and the Palestinian team. In the opening stage of the second half, he made an accurate penalty call for a foul on Palestinian player Salih in the penalty area, and he controlled the rhythm of the game well. In the quarter-finals, Ma Ning decisively awarded a penalty kick in the final stage of injury time, which also showed his accurate judgment ability.
Following the quarter-finals, Ma Ning continued to enforce the law and served as the fourth official, which means that the AFC recognized and affirmed Ma Ning's officiating skills. It is worth noting that in accordance with the employment practices of international and continental cups, the referee who serves as the fourth official in the semi-finals may be the referee for the third or fourth place finals or even the final, taking into account the physical condition and promotion status of the two games. (Beijing Daily)