ZURICH
\nWomen referees will officiate matches at the men\u2019s World Cup for the first time in Qatar this year, the sport\u2019s governing body FIFA announced on Thursday.
\nThree women referees and three women assistant referees will be part of the global showpiece event in Qatar, which will be held from Nov 21 to Dec 18.
\nReferees Stephanie Frappart from France, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda and Japan\u2019s Yoshimi Yamashita, as well as assistant referees Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Diaz Medina from Mexico and American Kathryn Nesbitt have all been called up.
\nA total of 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video match officials have been chosen by FIFA for the tournament.
\n\u201cWe are very happy that … we have been able to call up female match officials for the first time in the history of a FIFA World Cup,\u201d said FIFA Referees Committee chairman Pierluigi Collina.
\n\u201cThis concludes a long process that began several years ago with the deployment of female referees at FIFA men\u2019s junior and senior tournaments.
\n\u201cIn this way, we clearly emphasise that it is quality that counts for us and not gender. I would hope that in the future, the selection of elite women\u2019s match officials for important men\u2019s competitions will be perceived as something normal and no longer as sensational.
\n\u201cThey deserve to be at the FIFA World Cup because they constantly perform at a really high level, and that\u2019s the important factor for us.
\n\u201cAs always, the criteria we have used is \u2018quality first\u2019 and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide.\u201d
\nFrappart became the first female official to be involved in European Championship matches after UEFA included her in the list of referees for the tournament last year.
\nAll match officials for the finals will participate in early summer in seminars in Asuncion, Madrid and Doha.
\n\u201cWe can\u2019t eliminate all mistakes, but we will do everything we can to reduce them,\u201d said Massimo Busacca, FIFA\u2019s Director of Refereeing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ZURICH Women referees will officiate matches at the men\u2019s World Cup for the first time in Qatar this year, the sport\u2019s governing body FIFA announced on Thursday. Three women referees and three women assistant referees will be part of the global showpiece event in Qatar, which will be held from Nov 21 to Dec 18. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7534,7533,1522],"class_list":{"0":"post-261783","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-female-referees","9":"tag-qatar-world-cup","10":"tag-tournament"},"yoast_head":"\n