FIFA announced on Thursday that 36 referees,69 assistant referees, and 24 Video match officials from the six FIFA confederations based on their performances in the FIFA tournament and their various regional tournaments as domestic Leagues.
Speaking on the appointment of the referees, the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina said: “As always, the criteria we have used is ‘quality first and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide.
“The 2018 World Cup was very successful, partly because of the high standard of refereeing, and we will do our best to be even better in a few months in Qatar.”
He added: “The pandemic affected our activities, in particular in 2020 and at the beginning of 2021. Luckily, the World Cup was still quite far, and we had enough time to provide the candidates with good preparation. We are announcing these selections well in advance as we want to work even harder with all those who have been appointed for the FIFA World Cup, monitoring them in the next months. The message is clear: don’t rest on your laurels, keep working hard and prepare yourselves very seriously for the World Cup.”
What has made this year’s announcement more unique is the inclusion of three Female referees and three Female assistant referees for the Qatar showpiece. Over the years there has been a consensus effort by FIFA to include women in the modern game.
This is going to be the first time a Female referee will officiate at the World Cup or as an assistant referee in the biggest sporting event on earth even though Women referees have been allowed to officiate at the Junior levels.
Pierluigi Collina made this comment on the historical appointments of Female referees: “We are very happy that with Stéphanie Frappart from France, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan, as well as assistant referees Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Díaz Medina from Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt from the USA, we have been able to call up female match officials for the first time in the history of a FIFA World Cup.
“ This concludes a long process that began several years ago with the deployment of female referees at FIFA men’s junior and senior tournaments. In this way, we clearly emphasize that it is quality that counts for us and not genders. 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 high level, and that’s the important factor for us.”
Stéphanie Frappart has made an inch for herself after becoming the first female referee to officiate in a Ligue 2 match in 2014 and also made history in 2019 as he officiated a French Ligue one game between Amiens and Strasbourg in 2019.
Frappart was named the referee for the UEFA Super Cup between Chelsea and Liverpool. She also became the first female referee to officiate a Champions League game.
Salima Mukansanga made headlines this year when she became the first female to officiate at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Yoshimi Yamashita was part of the official team at the 2019 FIFA women’s World Cup and also officiated in the 2020 summer Olympics in Japan. Yoshimi also officiated in the AFC Champions League this year.
All selected referees will be taken through vigorous training and practical training to equip them before the final showpiece.
