Reporter Jin Cuo reported that on the 27th, there were two things that caught our attention around the growing referee disputes in the Super League.

First, this morning, the China Football Association, through expert analysis, decided that Ai Kun's penalty for Fellaini's final goal was a "misjudgment" at the internal meeting of the refereeing work of the Super League. This time the Football Association "admitted its mistake" (that the referee was wrong).

Second, previously, there have been media reports that "the Football Association will punish Luneng". The newspaper learned from the China Football Association that before the qualifying match between Shandong Luneng and Hebei Huaxia Happiness, the Football Association had punished several Luneng staff members, including teaching assistants and translators, who attacked the VAR room on the evening of 22nd, and the longest suspension time was as long as 7 months. Very subtly, so far, the China Football Association has not officially announced this punishment.

Regarding the comments made by the Football Association on referees in a relatively short period of time, the general view is that this obvious misjudgment has put a lot of pressure on the Football Association, and Fellaini's goal has been blown away, which makes people feel that Luneng has been subjected to controversial penalties continuously. Many people even think that this is the revenge of the referee circle on Luneng fans for checking the paper, and the practice of blowing off the goal has broken through most people's understanding of the bottom line of China football.

Not only Luneng's media staff and fans are excited, but also more neutral media and fans have joined the condemnation. During the three matches, authoritative media including Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily and People's Daily all expressed doubts about the referee and criticized the Football Association's management of the referee. Under pressure, the Football Association's position is also reasonable.

Although it is rare for China Football Association to publicly admit that referees have misjudged through the media, it is obvious that if this is only a compromise attitude under pressure, rather than the beginning of comprehensive management of referees, this public "admission" may bring more self-criticism.

As we all know, according to the usual practice, after the Football Association finds that Ai Kun has misjudged, Ai Kun will be suspended internally for a certain number of times. However, the impact of such measures on Luneng is unknown: the referee will definitely be more cautious in sentencing in the short term, but if Ai Kun stops playing, it may aggravate the hostile attitude of the referee circle towards Luneng.

What is even more regrettable is that the Football Association, while "admitting its mistakes", deliberately denied the statement that "referees hold a group together". If this can only be regarded as a guess before, then, after experiencing the anecdote that all the fumblers have no objection, but the VAR room brazenly led the referee to change the sentence, witnessed the ugly drama of the judges queuing to bid farewell to the "hero", and even saw the "misjudgment" that even people with the minimum professional knowledge could not make. Who would suspect that this is simply a humiliation to the whole industry by the small circle? As far as its characteristics of "committing a crime" are concerned, there is nothing to hide and no technical threshold is set. This is a blatant act of revenge and a public demonstration.

In fact, the Football Association must fully realize that the referee problem is actually very serious, not just "some problems". Referee has become one of the key factors that affect the football image of China and even the football development of China. The disharmony of law enforcement environment, the inability to unify law enforcement standards, and the danger that potential referees may subjectively change the results of the game not only have an almost irreversible negative impact on the league, but also bring great pressure to all investors.

According to the data released by PricewaterhouseCoopers on 20 17, the total cost of 2010 billion Super League is not less than10 billion. The 20 16 season is only the beginning of the Super League bubble, and 20 18 is.

At present, the investment in Super League tends to be rational, but under the downward trend of the economy, the tremendous pressure on investors has not been alleviated. Some investors' own asset-liability ratio is about 80% to 90%, some investors face certain policy risks, and many clubs have the dilemma of arrears of wages and transfer fees.

Under this heavy pressure, if a club with an annual investment of hundreds of millions, billions and billions can be freely played by several referees, it is undoubtedly a great irony for China professional leagues, and naturally it will appear: those who leave will laugh at it at will, while those who stay will hesitate to watch. What's more, it is clear that many clubs have expressed their intention under heavy pressure, but considering the related influence such as corporate image, they are just sticking to it.

Luneng is a state-owned enterprise club, which determines that it is impossible for them to quit decisively. But if other private enterprise clubs encounter the same situation, can investors only quit on the slope? You know, this way of being "forced away" will not affect the corporate image, nor will it cause public reaction to the enterprise, but what about the image of China football? What about the public opinion reaction of China football?

This is what the China Football Association should reflect on after this "mistake". What matters is not "admitting mistakes", but improvement: how to establish a more reasonable and open mechanism in the selection, management and selection of referees. "Admitting mistakes" can only shock referees in a short time, and only a more sound system can achieve long-term stability, including the role and value of professional leagues in referee management.

From the punishment of relevant personnel of Luneng Club to the confidentiality when this newspaper was published, we should be able to appreciate the difficulties of China Football Association in referee management. On the evening of 22nd, people from Luneng really attacked the VAR room, mainly the staff of Luneng, but the players didn't participate. The punishment of the Football Association is basically confirmed accurately, but the Football Association keeps it secret. Luneng's absolute silence makes people feel that they have reached some kind of tacit understanding.

As for why the Football Association does not publicly punish or announce the punishment, perhaps it is because the Football Association is afraid of further stimulating Luneng fans. This move is also regarded as a measure to ease contradictions similar to "admitting mistakes." However, Ai Kun's penalty was obviously unexpected by the China Football Association, which is why he admitted his mistake this time.

All right, let's ask, and then what?