This handout picture by FIFA on March 30, 2022 shows Al Rihla, which means the journey in Arabic is the official match ball for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament. FIFA AFP BEIJING Chinese referee Ma Ning and two assistant referees, Cao Yi and Shi Xiang, have been appointed to judge at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, according to a list released by FIFA on Thursday.
The world football governing body has named 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video match officials for its flagship national team competition, saying that referees were chosen based on their quality and performances at FIFA tournaments as well as other international and domestic competitions in recent years.
The 43-year-old Ma will be the second Chinese referee to officiate the world's most prestigious football tournament. Six women's match officials have been appointed for the first time in men's World Cup history.
The criteria we have used is ''quality first' and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing in the world, said the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina.
The 22 nd FIFA World Cup will be held in eight stadiums in Qatar from Nov 21 to December 18 in 2022.