China's Xie Lijun selected as FIFA Women's World Cup match official

GENEVA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Xie Lijun has been selected as an assistant referee for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, as the FIFA Referees' Committee announced the tournament's match officials on Monday.

Coming from southwest China's Sichuan Province, Xie has officiated international and domestic competitions, including the AFC Women's Asian Cup and the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

A total of 33 referees, 55 assistant referees and 19 video match officials (VMOs) will form FIFA Team One for the FIFA Women's World Cup, which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20. For the first time in the history of the FIFA Women's World Cup, six female VMOs have also been selected.

"They have been chosen in close cooperation with the six confederations, based on the officials' quality and the performances delivered at FIFA tournaments as well as at other international and domestic competitions in recent years," said a FIFA press release.

Chinese referees Ma Ning, Shi Xiang and Cao Yi participated in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, becoming the first Chinese officials to feature at a FIFA World Cup for 20 years.