On May 4, in the match between Quanzhou Yassin FC and Team B of Shanghai Port FC of the seventh round of Chinese Football Association League 2, Tian Jin, an international female referee who was admitted to the School of Football of WHSU in 2016, served as the referee, becoming the first female one refereeing the men’s professional football league of China.

Tian Jin is a native of Wuhan. She began her football training in Grade 6. Then she went on to play for the Wuhan Wujiashan women’s football team and stepped up to nationals with her teammates. When she was a freshman, she learned from her classmates that a football referee training course would be held. She enrolled with the idea of expanding her capabilities and her path to football refereeing began.

With her rich experience in football matches and diligence, it took less than two years for Tian Jin to pass the examination and become a reserve national referee.

In 2014, Tian Jin completed her undergraduate studies and became a grassroots youth training coach. Knowing that two excellent football referee friends around her got a master’s degree from WHSU, she had the idea of furthering her education in a specialty sports institute. In 2016, Tian Jin was admitted to WHSU as a postgraduate majoring in physical education.

During the three years of studying in WHSU, Tian Jin got plenty of practice. She refereed several men’s matches of the school football league as well as provincial and municipal matches. She also frequently went to the library to check out professional books and watch and analyze videos of excellent referees officiating. “The knowledge and experience I have learned and gained in WHSU has helped me go steadier and farther as a referee.”

The strong campus sports atmosphere of WHSU also deeply influenced Tian Jin in her student days. From early in the morning to late at night, the athletic field of WHSU was filled with students and faculty members who were sweating. Sometimes when she was alone for referee training, she occasionally found it boring. “But seeing so many athletic figures around me, I felt I was full of strength again with everyone’s company.” In that way, Tian Jin persevered, improving herself in all aspects, from physical fitness, skills and psychology.

With the rapid improvement of her professional ability, Tian Jin soon became a key training target of the CFA and was recommended to participate in the AFC Referee Academy Referee Development Program (Malaysia) in 2018, and since then has gradually stepped up to bigger matches. In addition to refereeing the Women’s Super League, Women's League 1 and Women’s League 2, she has also refereed the men’s junior matches.

With her excellent performance on the domestic fields as well as in the AFC Referee Academy, Tian Jin was promoted to international referee for eleven-a-side football in 2023 after rounds of selection and rigorous assessment. Since then, she has also served as a referee for major international tournaments such as the FISU University World Cup Football, the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualification Tournament, the Men’s Football Semi-Finals at the East Asian Youth Games, etc.

At the beginning of 2024, Tian Jin participated in the Men’s Professional Football League Pre-Season Training Course for Referees and successfully passed the Men’s Referee Standard Physical Fitness Test, qualifying her to participate in refereeing in the men’s professional football league. On May 4, she refereed the match between Quanzhou Yassin FC and Team B of Shanghai Port FC of the seventh round of Chinese Football Association League 2, which was the first time that a domestic female referee served as a referee for a men’s professional match.

After completing this historic refereeing work, Tian Jin wants to work towards a bigger goal. “I won’t forget the motto of WHSU, which is, ‘Fair Play, Courage, Honesty, Perseverance, Critical Thinking and Acting’. I will move forward towards my goal with no second thoughts and strive to referee at the World Cup on behalf of Chinese referees.”

Love and persist. Persist and excel. Let’s expect Tian Jin to continue her firm footsteps, show the style of WHSU people on the football field and whistle on the world stage on behalf of Chinese referees.