French referee Stephanie Frappart will make history as the first woman to referee a match in a men's World Cup. Accustomed to breaking glass ceilings, Frappart, 38, will achieve a new milestone in Qatar next Sunday, having been appointed to lead the decisive Costa Rica-Germany match. In this case, Frappart will form a completely female trio in the direction of the party, since the Brazilian Neuza Back and the Mexican Karen Díaz Medina will accompany her as assistants.
The Frenchwoman had already written her name in the history books of the World Cups a few days ago by participating as fourth referee in the match between Mexico and Poland, later she did so in the Portugal-Ghana match. She will now do it as the main referee, one more step in a formidable career.
A referee since she was 13 years old, Frappart knows what it's like to deal with men from a very young age. In fact she is the second of four brothers, among which two were referees. "I was stubborn as a mule, I had a vocation as a referee since I was a child, and I have always lived in a world of boys," she explained Frappart in a report on L'Équipe TV in 2019.
Frappard's milestones in the arbitration world are second to none. She was the first referee to direct an absolute women's World Cup final (2019), the first in a final phase of men's European competition (the 2019 European Super Cup) and the first to debut in the men's Champions League (Juventus-Dinamo Kiev). , December 2020).
In recent days, criticism had arisen since none of the three women on the World Cup refereeing team had yet been appointed as the first referee of a match. Frappart had been fourth collegiate in the Mexico-Poland and Portugal-Ghana matches; the Rwandan Salima Mukansanga in the France-Australia; and the Japanese Yoshimi Yamashita in the Belgium-Canada, England-United States and Belgium-Morocco and Wales-England clashes.
Experience, great merit and a formidable progression that is recognized with the greatest achievement of a referee, and for what will surely be most remembered, whistling a World Cup match. It will be in Qatar, a country where women do not have many recognized rights. One more message from Frappart to the world, which must be heard.
