At the age of 92, the first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay. In the long history of the competition, women referees have never been seen in a match. Qatar is going to break that trend with the World Cup. FIFA, the highest governing body of football, has announced the names of three female referees for the tournament.
FIFA said in a statement on Thursday (May 19) that it had appointed a total of 36 referees for this year’s World Cup. The company has also announced the names of 69 assistant referees and 24 video referees. Among the main referees are 3 women and 3 assistant referees.
The three main referees are Stephanie Frapart of France, Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan. Stephanie Frapart has previously played for Liverpool v Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup. He was also the referee in the 2020 Champions League match between Juventus and Dinamo Kiev. The female assistant referees are Newsback from Brazil, Karen Diaz from Mexico and Catherine Nesbitt from the United States.
“We are delighted to be able to hire female referees,” FIFA said in a statement. For the first time in Qatar’s history, they will play in a World Cup match. ”
FIFA added: “It was a very long process for us. Because for this we have already had to work with women referees. They have competed in FIFA at different ages. ‘