To promote the CBA, you still need foreign referees.

After complaining about the NBA's Tony brothers, let's discuss the refereeing problems in our domestic league.

Just moments ago, the Chinese Basketball Association announced that it will keep inviting foreign referees to officiate this season's CBA Finals.

According to reports, tonight's Game 2 will see Panama's Julio Anaya and Japan's Yoshiki Kato, two foreign referees, join Chinese referees to form the officiating team.

Both have officiated major events such as the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Their credentials speak for themselves.

During this CBA season's semifinals and finals, the Chinese Basketball Association invited six foreign referees to take part, including referees from Thailand, Latvia, and Serbia.

Some come from high-level basketball countries, while others (like Thailand) are from nations where basketball is less developed, but overall:

I enjoy the game experience when foreign referees are officiating.

It's much cleaner and more decisive.

The biggest advantage of foreign referees is their consistent standards, eliminating favoritism, precisely addressing long-standing pain points in the CBA.

For a long time, controversies over local refereeing have been endless, with home-court whistles, star-player favoritism, and personal relationships frequently appearing.

The same defensive move—home team players or star players get away with it, while visiting players are whistled for fouls.

Local stars enjoy a certain degree of leniency in calls, while ordinary players and foreign players are treated more strictly.

For example, when Yi Jianlian played in the CBA, he had a star whistle—there's no need to avoid saying that.

From the perspective of aligning with FIBA standards, it must also bring certain benefits.

Under the previous local officiating system, many minor infractions were tacitly allowed, such as grabbing without the ball, hand pushing, and close-body tangling, becoming normal on the court, and players gradually developed a habit of relying on small moves for defense.

This loose game environment caused domestic players to frequently suffer in international competitions; accustomed to lenient calls, they easily fell into foul trouble under FIBA's strict rules, struggling to adapt to international game tempo.

We never deny that foreign referees are not perfect either.

For instance, they have some issues understanding Chinese players' playing characteristics and communicating on the spot.

In terms of pure officiating skill, they may not be significantly better than local referees.

Many experienced local referees also possess equivalent professional ability—for example, Yan Jun, whom everyone often complains about, is actually very skilled.

But from an ordinary fan's perspective, the so-called "aligning with international standards" still needs to be tested in actual games. Can a few games they officiate really change things?

The formation of players' hand habits is a long process, starting from the youth training stage.

Therefore, the biggest benefit of foreign referees is the significant improvement in game flow and entertainment value.

Is it because local referees lack skill? No.

But the word "favoritism" sums it all up.

When facing coaches' roaring pressure and players' collective appeals, they tend to waver in their calls, repeatedly reconsider, and even add makeup calls or change calls, causing frequent game interruptions.

For example, after making a call, local referees often have to explain it repeatedly.

You're the referee—what's there to explain...

In the past, Du Feng and Yang Ming, two famous coaches, were iconic in that regard.

When Guo Shiqiang coached in the CBA, he even stepped onto the court to direct—why didn't the referee stop him?

Some players also, no matter what the referee calls, immediately complain.

After foreign referees arrived, just try that... At the end of the day, it's because favoritism calls have decreased, and judgments return to the rules themselves.

Besides, if you curse at the referee during a game, it's useless—they can't understand Mandarin...