Chinese football fans left without a national team to support at the World Cup have turned to referee Ma Ning – nicknamed "Card Master" for his enthusiasm in booking players – as the country's representative for the tournament.
With China's team once again failing to qualify, the 46-year-old Ma has emerged as an unlikely viral star after he shared photos on social media last month of him jetting off to the finals in North America.
A hashtag related to Ma's trip to the tournament has received more than 3.6 million views on social media platform Weibo, while the referee's RedNote account has gained 195,000 followers in less than two weeks.
Ma has also appeared in collaborations with brands such as laptop maker Lenovo, electronics manufacturer Hisense and dairy product firm Mengniu.
Ma's first post on the RedNote app showed him drawing a little red book from his referee's front pocket in a play on the platform's Chinese name.
Another showed him at an airport in China as he prepared to depart for the footballing extravaganza in Mexico, Canada and the United States.
"His luggage is probably all filled with yellow and red cards," one Weibo user commented under Ma's airport post.
Ma gained his "Card Master" moniker after dishing out nine yellow cards and three reds in an ill-tempered Shanghai derby in 2015.
Others revelled in the prospect of Ma officiating a match between the United States and Iran, fulfilling China's role as a peace-broker in the conflict.
"The whole country is behind you (though no one from the Chinese football team)," another social media user commented in a jibe at the national team's failure to qualify.
Ma is the only Chinese match referee at the tournament, where he is making his second World Cup appearance, having debuted as a fourth official in Qatar in 2022.
He is joined in North America by assistant referee Zhou Fei and VAR official Fu Ming.
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