Female referees set to officiate at World Cup 2022
Female referees will make history at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
For the first time in the history of the men’s tournament, and the most popular competition around the world, there will be a team of female referees on the pitch.
FIFA announced that three female referees and three female assistant referees are part of the 129 officials selected for World Cup duty.
Stphanie Frappart leads the list of six female referees for Qatar.
The French female referee officiated men’s World Cup qualifying games, men’s Champions League, 2019 Women’s World Cup final, and recently she refereed the men’s French Cup in May.
“As always, the criteria we have used is quality first, and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide,” said FIFA Referees Committee chairman Pierluigi Collina.
“In this way, we clearly emphasize that it is quality that counts for us and not genders.”
Who are the female referees that will be part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup?
Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan are also on the list of 36 referees preparing for Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup’s 64 games.
The 69 assistant referees include Neuza Back of Brazil, Karen Daz Medina of Mexico, and Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States.
“I would hope that in the future the selection of elite women’s match officials for important men’s competitions will be perceived as something normal and no longer as sensational,” Collina said.
“They deserve to be at the FIFA World Cup because they constantly perform at a really high level, and that’s the important factor for us.”
FIFA said 50 referee-and-assistant trios began preparing in 2019 for World Cup duty, with the project affected by limits on international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
