It is a common thing nowadays to see a foreign official
refereeing in the Chinese Football Association Super League. In the first half
of the CSL this year, foreign officials have refereed 32 matches, accounting
for 27% of the total. Recently, however, there have been a spate of problems
relating to refereeing. A debate has been ignited on whether native or foreign
referees are better.
Domestic referees have weaknesses.
In an investigation conducted by CSL, a majority of football
clubs, coaches, and players favored native referees over foreign ones. This
shows that they have confidence in native referees. However, native referees
have many weaknesses.