World football governing body, Fifa has appointed 36 referees from 31 different countries to officiate in this year’s World Cup matches in Qatar.
And for the first time since its inception in 1930, female referees will officiate at the world’s biggest tournament. The three women referees who will make the historic debut are Stephanie Frappart from France, Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan.
The trio of referees, as well as assistants Neuza Back of Brazil, Mexico’s Karen Diaz Medina and Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States, are in Qatar having already established themselves as officials in the men’s game.
Announcing the appointments, Pierluigi Collina, the head of Fifa’s Referees Committee, said “we clearly emphasise that it is quality that counts for us and not gender.”
“It’s a strong sign from Fifa and the authorities to have women referees in that country. I’m not a feminist spokesperson, but if this can make things happen…” said trailblazing Frappart, 38, who became the first woman to referee a World Cup qualifier match between the Netherlands and Latvia in 2021.
Having already refereed in Ligue 1 and the men’s Champions League, on December 3, 2018, Frappart was appointed to officiate in the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup in France. Her journey has taken 25 years, but it could have easily ended at the age of 18. She started refereeing five years before that, small-sided games for children near where she grew up in the North-West of Paris.
On the other hand, Mukansanga, 34, was the first to officiate a men’s Africa Cup of Nations match earlier this year. She now becomes the first African woman to officiate a match at Fifa men’s World Cup. She is perhaps best remembered for giving out six yellow cards as Zimbabwe beat Guinea 2-1 in the Africa Cup of Nations.
“It’s an honour and a privilege because it’s never happened before. It means you’re going to be the first one and going to open the door for other women, especially in Africa,” she told BBC. “You carry a lot on your shoulders and you need to carry it well, so others can see that the door is open and they can also go through. It means the opportunities are there – and it’s up to us to take them and become productive from them.”
Yamashita, 36, is the first woman to be a referee in the Asian Champions League in her country. She also refereed at the 2020 Summer Olympics the match between the United States and Sweden. She has managed just 39 games since starting her refereeing career.
She believes female referees have earned the right to be trusted with the whistle over a long period of time. “If it hadn’t been for my colleagues building up that trust, I wouldn’t be going to the World Cup,” she said. “I can’t destroy that trust — it’s a big responsibility but it’s one I’m happy to have.”
She won’t be drawn on a particular World Cup game that sticks in her mind and says she is inspired by the “atmosphere of the whole tournament”. Refereeing at the tournament will be “a dream”.
Kenya’s Fifa referee Mary Njoroge is one of the referees who were not selected due to Kenya being banned by Fifa owing to government interference. She says the ban has made them lose the chance to show their skills on the international stage.
Additional reporting by AFP
