One of the most anticipated moments of the tournament arrives. By announced. For symbolic. The moment arrives when a woman whistles a game of the world. could be any of the three summoned refereesbut the privilege is given to the French Stephanie Frappart. The pioneer. The nickname that she could accompany him all his life.
The appointment has been made for the late match 44 of the World Cup, Germany-Costa Rica, although decisive in the final day of group E. Frappart will be accompanied by two assistants to square the circle of the triangle. She will accompany her in the bands the Brazilian Neuza Back and the Mexican Karen Díaz Medina. Some referees have already whistled two games, such as the Italian Daniele Orsato and the Brazilian Wilton Sampaio, to name the first two, as well as Antonio Mateu Lahoz.
waiting in the band
The time has finally come for them to jump onto the pitch and get inside the rectangle to play because, until now, their activity had been limited to acting as fourth official (Frappart, three times) or as substitutes. They will continue to wait on the bench, or in the stands, like the footballers, the other two referees (Rwandan Salima Mukansanga and Japanese Yoshimi Yamashita) and the other assistant, the American Kathryn Nesbitt.
The historic call of the six referees became especially emblematic as it was also the tournament of Qatar, a country where women do not have the full freedom of men or equal rights. They will be dressed like their colleagues -they will wear the green uniform, one of the five colors of refereeing equipment-, although in the eyes of Qatari society it is not well regarded.
first in everything
“I want to remember that they are here for their quality and not for their gender,” he stressed. Pierluigi Collina, the president of the FIFA Refereeing Committeeto underline the choice for the merits incurred rather than for the symbolism of the decision.
Frappart has once again been the first among women, perhaps because its level has already been tested several times. After having climbed all the rungs of women’s football (she whistled the 2019 World Cup final), when she had already made her debut in Ligue 1 in France, she gained international status in men’s competitions: the Super Cup of the same year between Liverpool and Chelsea , the Juventus-Dinamo kyiv of the Champions League (2020) and was the fourth referee in the Turkey-Italy match that opened the Eurocup (2021).
In Africa and Asia
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She overcame all the taboos, and Mukasanga had to fight more, the first woman from the African continent, distinguished this year with Zimbabwe-Guinea in the African Cup. The Japanese Yamashita added the Melbourne City-Jeonnam Dragons match of the Asian Champions League to acquire filming before traveling to Doha. She is the representative of Japan in the world collective of selected referees.
“I am very proud to participate in the World Cup and to live this moment with my brothers,” explained Mukasanga at the open day of the arbitration body in Doha. “We feel part of a team,” said Nesbitt, who has served as an offside VAR assistant four times and will lend a hand to his colleagues today.