• Qatar 2022 World Cup is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022.
• This year’s FIFA World Cup will have a total of 36 referees among them will be three female referees
• Two of the 36 main match referees will come from England’s Premier League in the form of Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor.
The Qatar 2022 World Cup is a few months away and this year’s edition will make history as the first men’s FIFA World Cup will contain female referees in charge of the matches.
This year’s FIFA World Cup will have a total of 36 referees among them will be three female referees including Stephanie Frappart, 38, Yoshimi Yamashita, 36, and 33-year-old Salima Mukansanga.
Stephanie Frappart
Frappart who is a French football referee is arguably the most high-profile of the trio who has been on the FIFA International Referees List since 2009 and has refereed several high-profile matches.
She took charge of the 2019 Women’s World Cup final, before refereeing the UEFA Super Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea later that year.
Stéphanie Frappart will be in charge of Liverpool v Chelsea in Istanbul on Wednesday. Photo Courtesy: Damien Getty Images
In December 2020, Frappart became the first woman to referee in the men’s UEFA Champions League when she oversaw a 3-0 win for Juventus against Dynamo Kyiv.
Yoshimi Yamashita
Yamashita is an international referee from Japan who has also made Champions League history, albeit in a different continent in the world.
She was among the referees at the 2020 Summer Olympics where she refereed in the match between the United States and Sweden.
Yashimita was the first female referee ever to take charge of a match in Asia’s AFC Champions League earlier this year.
Salima Mukansanga
Mukansanga is an international football referee from Rwanda and she was an official at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
In 2022, Mukansanga became the first woman to referee at the African Cup of Nations, leading an all-woman officiating team of Fatiha Jermoumi (Morocco), Carine Atemzabong (Cameroon), and Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco) as the VAR.
Mukansanga is an international football referee from Rwanda and she was an official at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
She has officiated at the Olympics, FIFA Women’s World Cup, Africa Women Cup of Nations, and CAF Women’s Champions League. The 2022 World Cup will be her second major men’s international tournament in less than 12 months.
Mukansanga from Rwanda led an all-female officiating team at the Africa Cup of Nations in January when Zimbabwe met Guinea on the group stage.
Three of the 69 assistant referees who have been called up are also female.
They are Brazil’s Neuza Back, Mexico’s Karen Diaz Medina, and the USA’s Kathryn Nesbitt.
Two of the 36 main match referees will come from England’s Premier League in the form of Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor.
Meanwhile, Major League Soccer will be represented by 40-year-old Ismail Elfath.
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