KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: FIFA has opened up the prospect – remote but possible – of a woman refereeing this year’s World Cup Final in Qatar.

World football’s governing body, for the first time, has named three women referees and three women assistants in the panel of officials pre-selected for the tournament in November and December.

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.

The referees are Stéphanie Frappart (France), Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda) and Yoshimi Yamashita (Japan). The assistants are Neuza Back (Brazil), Karen Díaz Medina (Mexico) and Kathryn Nesbitt (United States).

Pierluigi Collina, Italian chair of the FIFA referees committee, said: “We are very happy that we have been able to call up female match officials for the first time in the history of a FIFA World Cup.

“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.”

Frappart, 38, has been on the FIFA international list since 2009. In 2019 she became the first woman to referee a major men’s European match and a top division French leaghue match and then the first woman to officiate a UEFA Champions League match in 2020.

In 2021 Frappart became the first woman to take charge of a men’s World Cup qualifying tie.

Altogether 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video match officials have been chosen in close cooperation with the six regional confederations.

Collina added: “As always, the criteria we have used is ‘quality first’ and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide.

“The 2018 World Cup was very successful, partly because of the high standard of refereeing, and we will do our best to be even better in a few months in Qatar.”

The “Road to Qatar 2022” project started in 2019, with more than 50 trios considered possible candidates and undergoing intensive preparation despite complications imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

List of the appointed match officials for the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar™

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