FIFA onWednesday named three women among the 36 referees chosen to officiate at theevent and three more in the group of assistants that will run the line at themonthlong tournament. The most likely candidate among the three to get astarring role is Stephanie Frappart, a French woman who has broken a number ofbarriers in European football.
Frappart,who made the list alongside female referees from Rwanda and Japan, has astellar reputation in European soccer, becoming the first woman to referee menin the Champions League, France’s top division and World Cup qualificationgames. She made history again this month when she took charge of the French Cupfinal.
Frappart wasalso chosen to join the officiating teams at last summer’s European Championship,but her role was limited to that of fourth official, a function on thesidelines of the game between the benches of the opposing teams.
Inannouncing its refereeing choices, FIFA may now look to go one step further.Joining Frappart in the refereeing group are Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda andYoshimi Yamashita from Japan. They, and the other World Cup-bound officials,will attend seminars in preparation for the 32-team event.
“Thisconcludes a long process that began several years ago with the deployment offemale referees at FIFA men’s junior and senior tournaments. In this way, weclearly emphasize that it is quality that counts for us and not gender,” saidPierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee.
NorthAmerican women have also been selected to participate in the tournament asassistant referees. Kathryn Nesbitt, a regular in Major League football, isjoined by Karen Díaz Medina of Mexico. Neuza Back from Brazil is also included.
For FIFA,the push to include more women on and off the field has become increasinglyurgent amid greater scrutiny of how it manages the sport and a growing globalinterest in women’s football. More money than ever has been invested indeveloping players and match officials. That, Collina said, should help makethe sight, and inclusion, of female referees less of talking point than itremains today.
“I wouldhope that in the future, the selection of elite women’s match officials forimportant men’s competitions will be perceived as something normal and nolonger as sensational. They deserve to be at the FIFA World Cup because theyconstantly perform at a really high level, and that’s the important factor forus,” he said.
Still, theenvironment and focus on female officials can be exacting. Frappart faced atorrent of abusive messages on social media before and after she officiated theFrench Cup game, in a game that was won after a penalty call.
Frappartsaid before that game that she stays away from social media and rarely readsthe press.
“Personally,I am focused on what happens on the pitch and don’t pay attention tocontroversies or discussions about my performances,” she said.
That theopportunity for the female officials to take part in the World Cup takes placein a conservative Gulf state such as Qatar adds to the intrigue. Someestablishments, including certain restaurants, in the tiny emirate areseparated with groups of men not allowed to enter areas designated for women orfamilies. Stadiums, though, will be open without such restrictions in place.
FIFA hasbecome increasingly innovative when it comes to officiating itsmultibillion-dollar tournament. The last two editions of the tournament havefeatured goal line technology, and at the last one, held in Russia, FIFAsuccessfully introduced video assistant refereeing, largely without affectingthe flow of the game.
VAR was alsoused at the last women’s World Cup in France in 2019, but its use, largelybecause of running costs, is not yet universal across the sport. For that reason,FIFA said the teams manning the controls are mainly drawn from Europe and SouthAmerica.
Choosingreferees for the tournament was made a harder task by the ongoing pandemic, andthat is also, in part, why FIFA made its announcements earlier than usual.
“We want towork even harder with all those who have been appointed for the FIFA World Cup,monitoring them in the next months. The message is clear: Don’t rest on yourlaurels, keep working hard and prepare yourselves very seriously for the WorldCup,” said Collina, a former World Cup final referee.
FIFA is alsokeen to ensure its officials are able to keep up with players who are fitterthan ever before. For that the organization said it would be providing eachofficial with a bespoke plan to follow in order to arrive in Qatar at the peakof their powers.
“Each matchofficial will be carefully monitored in the next months with a final assessmenton technical, physical and medical aspects to be made shortly before the WorldCup,” said Massimo Busacca, FIFA’s director of refereeing.
But for allthe work, all the focus, a referee’s fate could be defined by one bad call.
“We can’teliminate all mistakes, but we will do everything we can to reduce them,”Busacca said.
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