World Cup 2022: Female referees will officiate at the men’s tournament for the first time

Female referees will officiate at the men’s World Cup in Qatar for the first time. 

Stephanie Frappart of France, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda, and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan have been included on FIFA’s official list of 36 referees for the tournament which will start on November 21.

They will be assisted by three women referees Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Diaz Medina from Mexico, and Kathryn Nesbitt from the United States.

“This concludes a long process that began several years ago with the deployment of female referees at Fifa men’s junior and senior tournaments,” the chairman of FIFA’s referees’ committee Pierluigi Collina said.

Yamashita officiated at the 2019 Women’s World Cup and at Tokyo Olympics last year.