Three female referees will officiate matches at the FIFA World Cup for the first time in the history of the tournament. In addition, they will have the support of three female assistant referees, including one Mexican and one Brazilian.
The six women are part of the team of 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 Officials in charge of video who will participate in the World Cup in Qatar at the end of year.
The president of the FIFA referees committee, Pierluigi Collina, pointed out that with the announcement “concludes a long process that began several years with the deployment of female referees in junior and senior FIFA tournaments“.
“In this way we clearly emphasize that it is quality that matters to us and not gender”, assured Collina.
The three main referees are:
- Stephanie Frappart, from France
- Yoshimi Yamashita, from Japan.
Salima Mukansanga, from Rwanda
All three will also have female attendees from the American continent:
- Neuza Back, from Brazil
- Karen Diaz Medina, from Mexico
- Kathryn Nesbitt, from the USA
Collina, FIFA’s highest refereeing authority, added: “ I would hope that in the future, the selection of elite female referees for important men’s competitions will be perceived as normal and no longer as exceptional.”
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