Under-17 World Cup, AFC (Asia)

Referee Trios:

Khamis Mohammed Al Marri 
Mohammad Dharman - Ramzan Al-Naemi 
(All QAT)

Christopher James Beath
Anton Shchetinin - Ashley Beecham 
(All AUS)

Mǎ Níng
Xiang Shi - Yi Cao 
(All CHN)

Support Referee:
Ko Hyung-jin (KOR)

Video Assistant Referees:
Yaqoub Al Hammadi (UAE)
Abdullah Ali Al Marri (QAT)
Hiroyuki Kimura (JPN)

Referees team warm up before the Iran - Japan game at Asian Cup 2019.
From L-R: Anton Shchetinin, Chris Beath, Matthew Cream
Ashley Beecham will join Beath and Shchetinin at upcoming U17 WC. 

Referees:

Regarding World Cup 2022 one name who we can be pretty sure will not handle any matches is Khamis Al Marri from Qatar; though that is not rather down to him. An excellent 2019 for Al Marri's compatriot Abdulrahman Al-Jassim - his elegant style of refereeing graced both the AFC Asian Cup and CONCACAF Gold Cup - and he has already likely assured he will whistle on home soil in the winter of 2022.

Al-Marri never got past the Round of Sixteen in AFC Champions League, so it would seem his chances were rather small anyway. Al Marri will likely be a VAR in his home World Cup - in his game at Asian Cup this year, we saw a lenient referee who allowed a flowing game without losing the overview.

After Lù Jùn there was a rather arid period in Chinese refereeing, but a new era sporting Mǎ Níng seems to signify a positive change. He came into Asian Cup 2019 having handled the first leg of the AFC Champions League Final - following the pattern of designating a more prospective referee (Adham Makhadmah, Ahmed Al-Kaf, Kim Jong-hyeok in the last years) for the first match and giving a big name the return - and having been trusted to handle important games at the Azadi Stadium earlier that year.

Ultimately, he only handled one (group stage) match in the United Arab Emirates, despite his all-important VAR clearance. On the other hand his compatriot Fù Míng was entrusted with the hosts' Round of Sixteen tie against the Kyrgyz Republic - crucially perhaps, regarding Mǎ's presence at this Under-17 World Cup, he incorrectly awarded a decisive penalty for the UAE and didn't manage to show any sophisticated skills besides. Probably, Fù missed his big chance.

The game that Mǎ did take charge of, Qatar - Lebanon, displayed clear lacks in preventative refereeing and overall displayed a poor performance. He was much better in the Guangzhou Evergrande - Tianjin Teda game where I watched him, showing more proactivity. Thanks to those two contrasting impressions, I find it hard to evaluate him - though I can note he continues to get top games in AFC Champions League. In balance, it's hard to see him as a referee in Qatar.

It is perhaps not even too hyperbolic to view Chris Beath as the saviour of Asian Cup 2019. As we saw some bad, and a few catastrophic performances that all had one common denominator (passivity) it was even a relief to see how Beath handled his matches - phlegmatism never giving way to permissiveness, he was just doing his job and trying to get each single decision correct.

He successfully handled three matches in the United Arab Emirates, including the Iran - Japan Semifinal, though he actually made crucial mistakes in all three games - these were hardly glaring (missed penalty for handling in Bahrain - Thailand game, incorrect penalty in Lebanon - DPR Korea game and missed violent conduct in Iran - Japan game - not corrected by VAR in the lattermost case) and went unnoticed by players and media - one can hope that this not a frequent occurrence for him, something I don't have the authority to speak about having watched him a handful of times.

Despite Beath surprisingly never having handled a AFC Champions League Final, is a regular in the latter stages, including handling a Semifinal in 2017. He presents a firm, authoritative style of refereeing, empathically distant from the players. I actually think that the Australian has pretty good chances to attend World Cup 2022, being away from some hot geopolitical areas in his continent one would imagine could only help.

Support Referee:

Ko Hyung-jin did not show an especially convincing performance in the Oman - Uzbekistan game at Asian Cup, but remains the most promising Korean thanks to Kim Dong-jin's scandalous performances at Asian Cup 2019 and Kim Jong-hyeok's health problems (he has our best wishes for a recovery).

Video Assistant Referees:

Hiroyuki Kimura was the only Asian Cup attendee of the three, and he performed well in the China - Philippines game. Both the Qatar Stars League and the UAE Pro-League use VAR in all of their matches, hence Yaqoub Al Hammadi and Abdullah Ali Al Marri presences respectively.

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