What kind of person is the main referee of the Vietnam - Uzbekistan match?

Referee Ma Ning was born in 1979 and has been a FIFA referee since 2011. Previously, he was the main referee in the Chinese Super League since 2010. In addition to being a referee, Mr. Ma Ning is also a teacher.

A native of Liaoning, Ma Ning graduated from Shenyang Sports Academy in 2003. He then continued his studies in other courses to pursue his dream of teaching.

Ma Ning's refereeing career began in 2005 with refereeing at China's U15 and U17 youth tournaments.

Ma Ning enrolled in the Chinese football referee training course in 2005, and began officiating in youth tournaments.

Ma Ning loved football from a young age. He was a goalkeeper in his school's football teams, from elementary school to high school, and then university.

Continuously studying, Ma Ning possesses many football degrees and certificates, issued by the Chinese Football Association. In 2011, he officially became a FIFA referee.

In recent years, Chinese football has been constantly changing, welcoming international stars to play in the Chinese Super League. Amidst that change, Ma Ning is considered a star in the tournament.

In the last two years, 2016 and 2017, Ma Ning received the title of best referee in China. He is also considered the top referee in Asia.

Despite having nearly 8 years of experience refereeing high-level matches, Mr. Ma Ning has never refereed a World Cup or Asian Cup.

With his expertise, this 38-year-old referee is also known as the king of cards. He always officiates the most strict matches. Partly because Chinese football is too violent.

During his career, there was a match where Ma Ning showed 11 yellow cards, or blew the whistle for 4 penalties. But the decisions he made were almost always correct.

Many teams have criticized Ma Ning because he has a habit of giving out cards quickly, and a lot of cards. Referees usually warn players before giving them cards if they repeat the offense, but Ma Ning is very tough.

Mr. Ma Ning is no stranger to the Vietnamese team. He has refereed two matches with the participation of Vietnam and both were "unpleasant" experiences for the domestic audience.

In the first leg of the AFF Cup 2014 semi-final, referee Ma Ning was the main referee when the Vietnamese team faced Malaysia.

When hearing the news that Ma Ning would referee the upcoming final, Vietnamese fans were extremely worried. On football forums and social networks, there were many comments related to this "King in Black". "U23 Vietnam once again accepts the referee!" - a Facebook account wrote. Or another comment on the online newspaper: "The obsession named Ma Ning reappears"...

First, referee Ma Ning officiated the first leg of the 2014 AFF Cup semi-final between Malaysia and Vietnam in Malaysia. This was a match in which U23 Vietnam won 2-1 with goals from Huy Toan and Van Quyet. However, referee Ma Ning left a bad impression with a series of situations that clearly favored the home team Malaysia.

Two years later, according to the referee assignment schedule of the 2016 U23 Asian Cup Organizing Committee, this "man in black" continued to reunite with Vietnam when he refereed the match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Jordan.

The upcoming match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Uzbekistan will be the first continental final that Mr. Ma Ning will referee.

Furthermore, at the 2012 AFF Cup, the Chinese referee also made many controversial decisions in the match between Vietnam and the Philippines. In this match, the Philippines made many rough tackles but the referee did not blow the whistle.

In this AFC U23 Championship, Coach Park Hang Seo and his team have been continuously unfairly treated by the referee. The most obvious was in the semi-final match against Qatar when the Singaporean referee awarded a penalty to Qatar when Tien Dung had not yet committed a foul on the opposing striker within 16.5m. Hopefully, in tomorrow's final (January 27), this Chinese referee will officiate a fair match.

Vietnamese football matches with referee Ma Ning

Team Level:

14/01/16: U23 Jordan 3-1 U23 Vietnam

12/07/14: Malaysia 1-2 Vietnam

11/27/12: Vietnam 0-1 Philippines

Club Level:

11/03/14: Arema 1-3 Hanoi

13/03/13: Maziya 2-3 Da Nang

03/20/12: Tampines Rovers 0-0 SLNA