Chinese Federation Urged To Ask Referees Apart From Arab Countries Against Bahrain

The Chinese national team will face Bahrain in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers (Instagram/@chinafootballassociation).

JAKARTA - A number of media in China have urged the Chinese Football Association (CFA) to write to the AFC. This aims to prevent the match against Bahrain from being led by referees from Arab countries.

China will undergo an away match against Bahrain in the continued Group C match of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers Third Round.

The Bahrain vs China match will be held at the Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, on November 14, 2024.

Ahead of the match, a number of Chinese media highlighted the possibility of an Arab state referee leading the match.

Not wanting his team to be harmed by the referee from Arabia, CFA was also asked to write to the AFC so that the referee who led the match against Bahrain did not come from Arabia.

"The AFC has not announced a list of referees for an away match against the Bahrain national team. However, the Chinese Football Association must try not to be led by referees from Arab countries to avoid controversial decisions," China's Media, 163.com, wrote on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.

This is quite reasonable if you reflect on the match between the Indonesian vs Bahrain national team. In that party, the leadership of the referee from Oman, Ahmed Al Kaf, was considered unequal.

The impact is quite widespread because it results in hacking social networks and even death threats.

"The Bahrain Football Association took full advantage of the situation by filing a complaint with the AFC that Indonesian supporters had hacked websites, social media accounts, and emails after the match and issued death threats," the media said.

"Bahrain then submitted an application to hold an away match outside Indonesia in March 2025 because security reasons were threatened," wrote the same source.