A first at FIFA World Cup: 3 women referees for tournament in Qatar

The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar starting on November 20 will be a historic one with six women’s match officials being part of the tournament.

FIFA has chosen 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video match officials (VMOs) in close cooperation with the six confederations, based on their quality and the performances delivered at FIFA tournaments as well as at other international and domestic competitions in recent years.

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“As always, the criteria we have used is ‘quality first’ and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide,” said the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina.

For the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Referees Committee has also appointed three women’s referees and three women’s assistant referees.

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France’s Stéphanie Frappart, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan, are the women referees while assistant female referees are Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Díaz Medina from Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt from the US.

“We are very happy that with Stéphanie Frappart from France, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan, as well as assistant referees Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Díaz Medina from Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt from the USA, we have been able to call up female match officials for the first time in the history of a FIFA World Cup,” Collina said.

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“This concludes a long process that began several years ago with the deployment of female referees at FIFA men’s junior and senior tournaments. In this way, we clearly emphasise that it is quality that counts for us and not gender. 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. 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,” he added.

All the match officials arrived in Qatar recently. FIFA President Gianni Infantino personally welcomed the 129 referees, assistant referees and video match officials, and kicked-off their official training camp by emphasising the fundamental role the group he affectionally labelled “Team One” has to play in delivering the best-ever edition of football’s greatest competition.

“You are FIFA’s team,” President Infantino said. “You are our team and you are actually the most important team in the tournament because without you there is no football; there is no FIFA World Cup. We need Team One to enter the pitch first. We need Team One to kick off the first game on 20th November, and we need Team One to stop the last game and award the title to the World Champions.”

In his speech, the FIFA said, “There are, for the first time, six women as well, present. But whether men or women, it’s referees. For us, for me, we are all part of the same team.”