Germany and Costa Rica meet in their final FIFA World Cup opening group match on Thursday night, December 1st. On Tuesday night, the appointment of the referee for that match made headlines in a special way.
French Stephanie Frappart will lead a historic trio of judges onto the grass of the World Cup. For the first time in the men’s tournament, the match will be judged by a woman and even a trio consisting entirely of women. The 38-year-old Frappart gets a Brazilian on the line Neuza Backin and Mexican by Karen Diaz.
– Frappart writes World Cup history – and it happens in the Germany match, title your story (you will go to another service) the well-known German sports magazine Kicker.
– This is very emotional, because the World Cup is the most important sports tournament in the world. I am very pleased with the choice, Frappar himself commented according to Kicker.
According to Kicker, Frappart’s choice caused a rift on social media. Frappart had stated that he is not active there, and he does not want to take part in all the discussions.
– I prefer feedback from people who know about things. Self-criticism should be the result of expert analysis.
Group E: The situation and the last matches
1.12. Japan–Spain at 21:00 TV2
1.12. Costa Rica–Germany at 21:00 Areena
In Bild’s header (you will switch to another service) on the other hand, it was told with exclamation points:
– A woman as a referee in our “final” against Costa Rica!
Die Welt invited (you go to another service) referee designation as “historic”.
– A woman referees our fateful match against Costa Rica, Die Welt headlined.
The expert well remembers Frappart’s firm grip
The 38-year-old Frappart is one of the most famous judges in the world, who has often broken glass ceilings. In 2019, she became the first female referee in the French men’s league, in 2020 the first woman to officiate a men’s Champions League match (Juventus–Kyiv Dynamo) and last year the first woman to officiate a men’s World Cup qualifying match (Netherlands–Latvia).
With Urheilu’s expert In Jonne Kunnas have fresh memories of Frappart. Kunnas worked in the coaching teams of Helmarei after Marko Saloranta was named the team’s temporary head coach in July Anna Signeulin in place of. Last week, Saloranta was named the actual head coach of Helmarei.
Frappart refereed the women’s World Cup qualifying match between Finland and Ireland in September.
– Right from the beginning of the match event, Frappart had a strict line in everything. Because of that, he took over the game and took over the authority before the game had even started, Kunnas recalls.
In the match, which Finland lost 0–1, nothing questionable happened or that the referee would have remembered. Kunnas mainly remembers that Frappart’s operation showed experience. Frappart didn’t really listen to the feedback from the coaching, but the interaction was perhaps too one-way for Kunnas’ taste.
– In general, it’s a great thing that judges can judge games regardless of gender, if the level allows. In this case, give. I believe that it will bring opportunities to the sport in general, Kunnas stated.
There are six women in the judging panel of the tournament
Frappart already got to work as the first woman in the men’s World Cup tournament, as she has been the fourth referee in the Mexico-Poland and Portugal-Ghana matches.
The games are the first men’s WC tournament to which female referees have been appointed. In addition to Frappart, the main judges are from Rwanda Salima Mukansanga and Japan Yoshimi Yamashita.
At the beginning of the year, Mukansanga became the first woman to referee an African championship tournament. Only 34-year-old Mukansanga has had time to referee women’s matches at the Olympics and World Championships.
This year Yamashita, on the other hand, became the first woman to referee the Japanese league and the Asian Champions League.
In addition, three women have been appointed as assistant referees for the tournament: in addition to the Brazilian Back and the Mexican Diaz, who will get to work on Thursday, the American Kathryn Nesbitt. Nesbitt is one of the four video race judges in Thursday’s match, where the four led by Frabbart share the court. The fourth referee on the field is a Honduran Said Martinez.
In total, the referee composition of the World Cup consists of 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video referees.
This fall, Frappart refereed, among other things, the Champions League match between Real Madrid and Celtic, the Europa League matches and the men’s Nations League national matches.
Before the start of the tournament, Frappart stated that he has come to Qatar for the competition, not the environment. However, he said that he hoped that the inclusion of female referees in Qatar “would make things happen on a wider level as well”.
– It is a strong signal from Fifa and the authorities that there will be female referees in the country, Frappart said According to The Guardian (You’re moving to another service).
Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina said before the tournament football website FourFourTwo (you are moving to another service) that he is very happy that it was possible to invite female referees to the tournament for the first time.
– This ends a long process that started several years ago with the arrival of female referees in FIFA’s men’s tournaments. In this way, we clearly emphasize that for us it is quality and not gender that matters. I hope that in the future the selection of top female judges for important men’s competitions will be seen as normal, and no longer sensational.
Before the start of the tournament, Collina also denied suspicions that women could not act as referees in matches of certain, more conservative countries. Limitations can therefore be related to, for example, language skills or similar factors, Collina said.
In the video below, you can see how Collina commented at the press conference before the start of the tournament that there will be female judges for the first time.
Collina praised the development of refereeing
Pierluigi Collina, now 62 years old, is a legendary referee who whistled, among other things, the famous Champions League final in 1999 when Manchester United beat Bayern. Collina also refereed the World Cup final in 2002, when Brazil beat Germany.
Collina explained before the World Cup tournament to ESPN (you will switch to another service)that as far as the judges are concerned, the qualification has taken place right from the previous World Cup in 2018.
At the Qatar tournament, a group of 139 judges live in the same hotel and train together. Before the World Cup, Fifa organized the tournament as practice and training for referees.
For each World Cup match, the analyst works on training material for the judges. Collina recalled to ESPN that during his prime from 1995 to 2005, there was no such thing.
– I remember when I was asked to attend the 2002 final between Brazil and Germany, I had to ask for VHS recordings of the matches that the teams had played up to that point. I locked myself in my room, took notes and watched every minute of every match. Because the goal of a referee is to be one step ahead, to know what is going to happen before it happens.
– Back then it was unusual to prepare like that, but I’m proud that now it’s a normal referee’s preparation.
Collina shared praise for the current president of Fifa For Gianni Infantino that nowadays the Fifa Referees Committee is headed by people with experience in refereeing. For example, this was not the case in 2010, according to Collina.
In addition, the referee boss emphasized VAR skills (video assistant referee). In the 2018 World Cup, VAR was used for the first time. Collina stated that as technology has developed and experience has accumulated, referees’ decision-making has become faster, although “accuracy and speed do not always go hand in hand”.
Collina also commented on the introduction of female referees to the men’s World Cup in an interview with EPSN.
– They all have experience in men’s matches, not only at home, but also in Fifa competitions. I understand it’s pretty big news because it’s the first time in World Cup history. But I’d be happy if it wasn’t news, but if we just treated them as six members of the refereeing panel.