In a country where women face deep discrimination in almost all aspects of their lives, a major milestone for women football referees will be witnessed. Ironic, right?The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar will have three women referees and three women assistant referees for the first time in the history of the men’s tournament.Rwandese referee Salima Mukansanga, French Stephanie Frappart and Japanese Yoshimi Yamashita are the first called up to officiate in the tournament, while the trio of assistant referees are Mexican Karen Diaz Medina, Brazilian Neuza Back and American Kathryn Nesbitt.Rwandan🇷🇼 referee, Salima Mukansanga has been chosen to officiate at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar⚽️. She is now the first African woman in the history of the World Cup to referee at the men’s FIFA World Cup. pic.twitter.com/w7OMWD8rRH— Africa Archives ™ (@Africa_Archives) November 17, 2022 In Qatar women have to rely on a male authority, be it their father, brother, uncle, grandfathers or husband, for the most basic of human rights. From travel to marrying, obtaining a government scholarship to pursue higher education, work in many government jobs, obtain some reproductive health care and many more.Women cannot even act as guardians to make choices about their children’s lives. At the root of these discriminatory rules are laws, policies, and practices that deem men as heads of households and as legal and social guardians of women. It then means more to have the six achieve such a major milestone, in a male-dominated field, in Qatar.Se da a conocer que #StephanieFrappart será la encargada de pitar la inauguración de Qatar 2022La silbante francesa se convertirá en la primera mujer silbante en hacer historia tras estar en el primer juego de la Copa del Mundo, el duelo será entre #Qatar 🇶🇦 vs #Ecuador 🇪🇨. pic.twitter.com/DOtJejA15F— Rodrigo Peguero (@rodrigopeguero) November 17, 2022 Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina, says that this is the conclusion of a long process that began several years ago with the deployment of female referees at FIFA men’s junior and senior tournaments.“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’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 really high level, and that is the important factor for us,” Collina said.The six women are part of 129 officials who will be officiating in the biggest football tournament. Among those named are 36 referees, 69 assistants and 24 who will be in charge of VAR.Qatar 2022: por primera vez en la historia habrán seis árbitras en un Mundial masculino 🇶🇦🏆 👤 Principales (3/36)Stephanie Frappart 🇫🇷Salima Mukansanga 🇷🇼Yoshimi Yamashita 🇯🇵🏳 Asistentes (3/66)Neuza Back 🇧🇷Karen Díaz Medina 🇲🇽Kathryn Nesbitt 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Bc6LDbqpQa— Editorial Especiales (@revespeciales) November 16, 2022 34-year old Mukansanga has been on the FIFA International Referees list since 2012. She officiated at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. In 2022, she became the first woman to referee a game in the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon. She officiated at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, CAF Women’s Champions League. She will be the youngest referee to officiate in Qatar 2022.On her part, Frappart has been on the FIFA International Referees List since 2009, she has officiated several high-profile matches like the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final and the 2019 UEFA Super Cup.In 2019, she became the first woman to referee a major men’s European match and a French Ligue 1 match. She was also the first woman to officiate a UEFA Champions League match in 2020. In 2021 Frappart became the first woman to take charge of a men’s World Cup Qualifying match.BREAKING Sadio Mane is definitely out of the World Cup!Yamashita from Japan also refereed in the AFC Champions League earlier this year, becoming the first female referee to officiate a game in both the men’s AFC Champions League and the J1 League, taking charge of Melbourne City’s 2–1 win over Chunnam Dragons.She was an official at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. She also refereed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in the match between the United States and Sweden.##NAJAVA_MECA_6823470## Additional details by AIPS
