In a historic first, Stéphanie Frappart of France, Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan, three women, have been chosen among the 36 referees to officiate at the World Cup in Qatar, FIFA announced on Thursday.
“This concludes a long process that began several years ago with the deployment of female referees a FIFA men’s junior and senior tournaments,” said FIFA’s head of refereeing Pierluigi Collina.
“In this way, we clearly emphasize 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.”
Congratulations to:
Yamashita Yoshimi ??
Stephanie Frappart ??
Salima Mukansanga ??The first three female referees to be selected for a men’s FIFA World Cup ? pic.twitter.com/tnCS3zImSd
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) May 19, 2022
Neuza Back of Brazil, Mexico’s Karen Díaz Medina, and Kathryn Nesbitt from the United States were picked in the group of assistants that will run the line and flag for offside in the tournament. In total, FIFA selected 69 match officials.
