Three Female Referees Set To Make History At 2022 World Cup

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be the first to feature female referees, with three women set to make history.

France’s Stephanie Frappart, Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga and Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita were included in the list of 36 referees selected by FIFA, while three more women will head to Qatar as assistant referees.

The trio of referees, as well as assistants Neuza Back of Brazil, Mexico’s Karen Diaz Medina and Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States, will go to Qatar having already established themselves as officials in the men’s game.

Announcing the appointments, Pierluigi Collina, the head of FIFA’s Referees Committee, insisted that “we clearly emphasisethat it is quality that counts for us and not gender”.

One of referees, Yamashita told the media that refereeing at the World Cup “is a big responsibility but I am happy to have it”, adding that she “never imagined” being handed such an opportunity.