In the league, appeals against referees keep emerging, facing a profound crisis of trust. The referees gather together and what they discuss most is the confidence and authority when enforcing matches. Sun Baojie, the Golden Whistle, said, "When I step onto the field, I am selfless and fearless, and there will definitely be confidence and authority on the field." Mu Yuxin, who returned from the South Africa World Cup in July, said, "I become very confident once I get onto the field. As long as it's fair and just, there won't be any problems."
The most criticized issue about Fan Qi was that during the 2009 national team match against Iran, he did not show a red card for Xu Yang's malicious foul. The Iranian coach directly pointed out the referee's unfairness at the press conference. In response, Fan Qi explained with a smile, "It was a friendly match at the time, mainly considering 11 vs 11 for both sides, so each could get better training. If it were an official match, he would have been sent off."
Despite not officiating, as an official member of the South Africa World Cup referee list, Mu Yuxin still has a significant influence in the referee circle. He is very humble, respectfully calling all referees and referee supervisors teachers and seniors. Mu Yuxin said, "Faced with so many teachers and seniors, I really don't have much confidence in front of you all. But once I stand on the field, I become especially confident. Confidence must also come with authority; only authority can ensure the smooth progress of the game." Mu Yuxin believes that the level of Chinese referees will surely improve, and in the future, more people will go to high-level environments like the World Cup to enforce rules. "At the South Africa World Cup site, the 29 referees selected by FIFA and all the assistant referees were very confident, which allowed them to well control and dominate the game. This is the direction we strive for and improve."
Under the influence of their seniors, young referees such as Ma Ning and Zhang Lei are also full of confidence. Female referee Zuo Xiudi said, "As long as our confidence and authority can be well demonstrated in enforcement, improving the level will not be a big problem."