The men’s Copa América, the oldest soccer team tournament on the planet, began.
And among its novelties there is one that stands out above all: unlike the Euro Cup, which is held in parallel on the old continent, the American tournament has eight female referees for the first time in its history.
The two main ones are the Brazilian Edina Alves and the American Tori Pensowho will serve as central judges for some of the Copa América matches.
In addition, five other women have been chosen as part of the group of line assistants.
They are Neuza Back (Brazil), Mary Blanco (Colombia), Migdalia Rodriguez (Venezuela), Brooke Mayo (USA) and Kathryn Nesbitt (USA.).
And in the VAR (the video assistant referee), the competition will feature the Nicaraguan Tatiana Guzmán.
In fact, this Friday Alves and Back were part of the body of referees who were in charge of the 0-0 draw between Chile and Peru.
“It’s a dream. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and say: ‘I’m achieving things in such a short time’, because I started as an international referee in 2016 and there are people who have 15 years at the international level and have not managed to be in important tournaments like this one or the Olympic Games, where I will also be,” Venezuelan Migdalia Rodríguez told the AFP news agency.
“Since I started, my physical preparation was always focused on wanting to reach the men’s tournaments,” he added.
This designation is part of a growing trend: the arrival of women to referee men’s matches.
In the last Qatar 2022 World Cup, a historic moment was marked when a woman, Frenchwoman Stephanie Frappart, coached for the first time in the largest soccer tournament, refereeing the Costa Rica – Germany match.
Furthermore, in the next Olympic Games, there will be 38 women among the 89 judges who will govern the soccer matches of the pinnacle event in world sport.
Who are they?
The appointment of Edina Alves, 44, is not a surprise.
Alves is one of the leading referees on the continent but, above all, she is the first woman to referee a professional men’s game organized by FIFA.
It happened in Qatar, at the 2021 Club World Cup, when he directed the match between Ulsan Hyundai of Japan and Al-Duhail of Qatar.
And she is a judge who picked up the example of a “heroine” of the profession: Sílvia Regina de Oliveira, also Brazilian and the first woman to direct a Conmebol match in 2003.
“Girls who want to be referees should not be treated with compassion. It is a difficult career, but luckily, at least in the refereeing direction in Brazil, we referees are evaluated fairly and receive the same treatment as the referees. That is already a great achievement,” Álves told the newspaper El País.
The American Tori Penso, 39, will also direct some matches of this Copa América.
She has already stood out in international refereeing: she was the main judge of the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, between England and Spain.
The Colombian Mary Blanco has also been making a career, after having been the first Colombian referee to be in a Women’s World Cup and being part of the refereeing team for the Colombian men’s soccer final in 2023 between Millonarios and Atlético Nacional.
Rodríguez, for her part, has already been chosen for the Paris Olympic Games.
Brooke Mayo was an assistant at the 2023 Women’s World Cup final and has over 21 years of refereeing experience, while her partner Kathryn Nesbitt was one of the women who made history by joining the collegiate body that was in charge of the Qatar World Cup.
And the VAR will be a pioneer of Nicaraguan professional soccer: Tatiana Guzmán. She was the first woman to officiate a men’s football match in his country and now he is making history again from the VAR team for the Copa América 2024.
“I think that, even in refereeing, this will be exciting for other girls, and also for the soccer teams, so that they know that they can be part of this,” Guzmán told the FIFA website.
Referees who have made history
Although the first records of female refereeing date back to the 1930s with the appearance of the Austrian Edith Klinger, the truth is that FIFA names the Turkish Drahşan Arda as the first female referee in the history of football.
Arda dedicated herself to refereeing during the 1960s, while she was a school teacher in the German region of Bavaria..
Over time, more women came to the game. Not only the aforementioned De Olivera and Frappert, but also other names that have left their mark.
The Swede Ingrid Jonsson, for example, was part of the refereeing team in the final of the first Women’s World Cup that was held in China, when male judges still predominated.
In South America, in addition to Silva and De Olivera, in recent years Cláudia Vasconcelos Guedes has stood out.
The Brazilian was the first woman to officiate an official match in a tournament organized by FIFA: she was the central judge of the match for third place at the 1991 Women’s World Cup in China.
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