Female referees will make World Cup history in Qatar this year by officiating for the first time at a major men's tournament, the FIFA announced on May 19 .
129 officials were selected for World Cup duty, including three female referees and three female assistant referees.
Stéphanie Frappart of France has experience officiating FIFA World Cup qualifying matches and also UEFA Champions League matches. She also was a referee in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan were also selected as main referees, while Neuza Back of Brazil, Karen Diaz Medina of Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States will serve as assistant referees.
“As always, the criteria we have used is ‘quality first’ and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide,” said FIFA Referees Committee chairman Pierluigi Collina, who worked the 2002 World Cup final. “In this way, we clearly emphasise that it is quality that counts for us and not gender.”
Three female referees and three female assistant referees will be part of the global showpiece event in Qatar, which will be held from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18.
“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,” Collina said.
A total of 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video match officials have been chosen by FIFA for the tournament.
