FIFA has appointed three women’s referees and three women’s assistant referees ahead of the 2022 World Cup for the first time in the tournament’s history.
France’s Stephanie Frappart, Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita are among the 36 referees to have been selected by the world governing body.
In total, there are six female officials among the 129 referees, assistant referees and VARs announced on Thursday, also including assistants Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Diaz Medina from Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt from the USA.
“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 Fifa’s referees committee Pierluigi Collina.
“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 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.”
Yamashita was the first woman to officiate a game in the AFC Champions League earlier this year. also been in charge of Ligue 1 matches in recent times.
Yamashita, from Japan, was the first woman to officiate a game in the AFC Champions League earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Rwandan Mukansanga became the first woman to referee a match at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon in February.
In total, there will be 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video match officials for the competition.
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