The Qatar World Cup is going to be full of firsts: the first time it will be played in the Middle East; the first time it will be played in November and December. Now, it may also be the first men’s World Cup tournament in which a game is refereed by a woman.
Recently FIFA named three women among the 36 referees chosen to officiate at the event and three more in the group of assistants that will run the line at the monthlong tournament. The most viable candidate among the three to get a starring role is Stéphanie Frappart of France, who has broken a number of barriers in European soccer.
Stéphanie Frappart is a French football referee. She has been on the FIFA International Referees List since 2009 and has refereed several high-profile matches. She became the first woman to referee a major men’s European match and a French Ligue 1 match, both in 2019. 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 the men’s World Cup Qualifying match.
FIFA has become increasingly ingenious when it comes to officiating its multibillion-dollar tournament. The last two editions of the tournament have featured goal-line technology and at the last one in Russia, FIFA successfully introduced video assistant refereeing, largely without affecting the flow of the game.
