Who are the six referees who were appointed for the Qatar 2022 World Cup

May 25, 2022

Stephanie Frappart marks the limits to Kylian Mbappé during a friendly match between Paris Saint Germain and Waasland Beveren, at the Parc des Princes stadium, in Paris, France

Since the first official women’s football match was played in London in 1895 It took 127 years for six women to be appointed to deliver justice at a FIFA Men’s Soccer World Cupwhich will take place in Qatar starting next November.

The Referees Commission appointed 36 referees, 69 assistants and 24 VAR officials. Of the 129 appointed, only half a dozen are women, but their presence will mark a milestone in the history of world arbitration.

Three of them will be field referees, the French Stephanie Frappart (38 years old), Rwandan Salina Mukansanga (34), and the Japanese Yoshimi Yamashita (36), for which they will be able to direct some of the initial matches.

Another three will attend, and two of them represent the American continent: the Brazilian Neuza Back37 years old, the Mexican Karen Diaz Medina (34) and the American Katryn Nesbitt (33).

“These appointments culminate a long process that began several years ago with the appointment of female referees in FIFA youth and absolute men’s tournaments,” explained the Italian. Pierluigi Collinapresident of the Commission and remembered World Cup referee.

Salima Mukansanga, from Rwanda, will have her first World Cup experience in November

What are their profiles and experiences to reach the biggest event in world football?

The French Frappart (FIFA 2011) is the most famous and recognized. Her trajectory shows her as an orthodox of the regulations, with very high demands for fair play and therefore very rigid with the disciplinary issue. The physical part – fundamental at this level – shows her with an agile movement and an average distance of 11 kilometers per game. After directing in the most important women’s tournaments, including World Cup finals, she transcended the media in 2019, by becoming the first woman in charge of refereeing the final of the men’s UEFA Super Cup between Liverpool-Chelsea.

In 2020 she was the first to direct a Champions League match between Juventus-Dinamo kyiv. In the men’s European Championship she was appointed as assistant to Dutchman Danny Makkelie in the match between Turkey and Italy.

August 2019. Liverpool and Chelsea play. She enters with the ball the referee Stephanie Frappart, who will be in Qatar 2022. She is accompanied by assistant Michelle O’Neill and Manuela Nicolosi.

For his part, Yoshimi Yasmashita in 2019 led the first women’s triple in a men’s match of the AFC Cup. She shared the 2018 U-17 Women’s World Cup, 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup and the 2017 Algarve Cup. She is the one with the least international tour. She stands out for her physical strength, with an average distance of 12 kilometers per match. She is very prone to tight control in technical and disciplinary matters.

Yoshimi Yamashita, next to the ball, in a women’s soccer match during the Olympic Games in Japan

Surely the only one who will lead a match will be the French Stephanie Frappart, the other two selected will probably officiate as the fourth referee.

The assistant Neuza Ines Back during a meeting between Atletico Mineiro v Atletico Goianiensense at Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte, in Brazil

The Mexican representative Karen Diaz Medina officiating as an assistant in an Arab Cup match between Syria and Tunisia, which was played last year in Qatar

American Kathryn Nesbitt in action during an MLS game in New York. It is likely that she will be the fourth referee in the World Cup

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