Female chief referees to debut in men’s World Cup qualifying round

Female referees will officiate in men’s World Cup soccer matches for the first time in history. FIFA said Friday that it has deployed female referees Stephanie Frappart (38) of France and Katerina Monzul (40) of Ukraine as chief referees for matches between the Netherlands and Latvia in the Group G in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on Sunday, and between Austria and the Faroe Islands in Group F in Vienna, Austria on Monday, respectively for the Europe qualifying round of the 2022 Qatar World Cup soccer finals. It is the first time that a woman will serve as the chief referee in a qualifying round match of the men’s World Cup.

Frappart has earned reputation for her competence in the international soccer community by refereeing the final match in the 2019 women’s World Cup in France. She was named the first ever female chief referee in France’s primary male soccer league (League 1) in 2019, before serving as the chief referee for a Group G match between Juventus (Italy) and Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) in the 2020-2021 UEFA Champions League in December last year. She was also the first female ever to serve as the chief referee for a UEFA Champions League match. Monzul also refereed at the 2015 Women’s World Cup soccer finals in Canada as a veteran referee. She is currently serving as a referee in Ukraine’s male Premier League.

Pierluigi Collina, chair of FIFA’s Referee Committee, said, “The fact Frappart and Monzul will serve as chief referees for men’s World Cup qualifying round matches for the first time is a very proud and special thing,” adding, “The naming of these two referees represents recognition of the efforts and achievements that they have made recently.” Saying female referees have recently demonstrated their capabilities in various championships, FIFA stressed that what matters is ability rather than gender.”


Won-Hong Lee bluesky@donga.com