Ma Ning Becomes The 2023 Asian Cup Final Referee

JAKARTA - The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed that Ma Ning from China will lead the 2023 Asian Cup final on Saturday, February 10, 2024, at the Lusail Stadium, Qatar. Ma became the first referee from China to lead the Asian Cup final.

The final match between Jordan vs Qatar will be Ma's fourth task in the 2023 Asian Cup. Previously, he led the Group E match between South Korea vs Bahrain, the last 16 match between Qatar vs Palestine, and the quarter-final between Iran vs Japan.

Ma made his debut as the main referee in the Asian Cup in the 2019 edition. He started his referee journey at college. Ma became a national referee several years after graduating in 2003. Then he had the opportunity to lead the Chinese Super League in 2010 before becoming a FIFA referee in 2011.

He has been refereeed in 37 matches in the Asian Champions League, including the second leg of the 2022 final between Urawa Red Diamonds vs Al Hilal SFC. Ma also leads the AFC Cup, U-23 Asian Cup, and 2019 U-17 World Cup which took place in Poland.

The referee who was born in Liaoning appeared in the 2022 World Cup as the fourth official in six matches.

The assignment marks Ma's first appearance at the World Cup as well as the first Chinese referee in the world's biggest football tournament in 20 years. Meanwhile, in the 2023 Asian Cup final, Ma will be well supported by referee assistant Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng, both from China. Meanwhile, the Uzbekistan duo, Tantashev Ilgiz and Tsappenko Andrey, are the fourth officials and assistant referees.

Then, Fu Ming from China will sit behind the control of the video assistant referee (VAR) and assisted by Iida Jumpei from Japan.