Who is Stephanie Frappart, the first woman to officiate a men’s World Cup match?

Thursday December 1st is the date. And the Qatar World Cup 2022picture of a historical fact. It is that, after confirmation from FIFA this Tuesday Stephanie Frappart will go down in football annals as the first woman to referee a match at the men’s World Cup. Today she will give the opening whistle of the match between Germany and Costa Rica They play from 16:00, a key duel for group E that can define the Teutons’ future in the competition.

Undoubtedly, it is an unprecedented event and with the symbolism of happening in a country that has women on a level of absolute inequality compared to men.

The 38-year-old Frenchwoman (she had been the fourth referee in the Mexico-Poland and Portugal-Ghana matches) is one of three referees designated to officiate a World Cup for the first time in the history of the competition, together with Rwandan Salima Mukansanga and Japanese Yoshimi Yamashita.

But the detail isn’t just in Frappart’s designation, since The full shortlist will be made up of women: will have as line judges the Brazilian Neuza Back and the Mexican Karen Díaz Medina.

The fourth referee will be the Honduran Said Martínez; the Canadian Drew Fischer at the VAR; the AVAR the French Jerome Brisard; the American Kathryn Nesbitt to the VAR for offside; and the support to the VAR of the Italian Massimiliano Irrati. It is no small fact that her World Cup debut is in this edition taking into account the vulnerability of women’s rights in the Middle Eastern host country.

An attempt by FIFA to try to clean up its image in the world? Frappart is already used to saying present in important moments. Today she is considered one of the best referees on the planet and her presence at the World Cup is a clear example of her great present. However, to get to the place you occupy today, you had to fight it from below.

He became a FIFA referee in 2011 and began to work its way through the lower divisions of his country. She was the first woman to referee a match in the French second division, in 2014, and was also a pioneer in doing so in the top flight of French football. His Ligue 1 debut came in April 2019 in a match between Amiens and Racing de Strasbourg. She hasn’t stopped growing since then.

At the same time, he was a referee at the Women’s World Cup in Canada in 2015 and at the Under-19 Women’s World Cup held in Turkey four years earlier. Additionally, she was in charge of officiating the Women’s World Cup Final between the USA and the Netherlands in 2019.

The IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) has named her the best referee in the world twice, in 2019 and 2020.

He led Real Madrid to the Champions League

Frappart, the woman of records, was on everyone’s lips two years ago when she became one the first woman to referee a Champions League match. It was 2 December 2020 in Turin, the fifth round of the Group Stage between Juventus and Dinamo Kiev.

On November 2 of this year, she became the first woman to lead the real Madridin a meeting before Celtic of Scotland, for the group stage of Champions League, which ended in a 5-1 win for Merengue. That was his second match as a referee in Europe’s top club competition.

In 2020 she was the second woman to referee in the Europa League – the pioneer was the Swiss Nicole Petignat in 2004-. You took charge of three matches in the group stage of Europe’s second club competition.

A year earlier, in August 2019, the Frenchwoman became the first woman to referee the European Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea in Istanbul, Turkey, which ended with Jürgen Klopp’s team winning from twelve steps.

It was a journey of many years of work and effort for Frappart, I called him who never stops setting records. This Thursday, starting at 4.00pm at Al Bayt Stadium, she will have the chance to add a new achievement to her list by becoming the first woman to referee a World Cup.

Curiously, it will be in a distant land, where due to cultural and religious issues, gender inequalities and discrimination against the LGBTIQ+ community are commonplace.

GL