For the first time in the history of the World Cup, six women (three referees and three assistant referees) have been selected as match officials for the 2022 edition, which takes place from 20 November to 18 December in Qatar.
France’s Stephanie Frappart, Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita are among the 36 field referees chosen for Qatar.
Brazil’s Neuza Back, Mexico’s Karen Diaz Medina and the USA’s Kathryn Nesbitt will officiate alongside 66 other assistant referees.
For this edition, the international football federation, FIFA, has not selected any Belgian referees. Frank De Bleeckere was the last Belgian referee to officiate at a major tournament. That was at the 2010 World Cup.
“As usual, the main criterion for our selection was quality,” Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees’ Committee, said when the list was published. “Our selection simply corresponds to the best in refereeing in the world.”
“The success of the 2018 World Cup was due in part to the quality of refereeing, which we want to be even better at the tournament in Qatar.,” he added.
There will also be 24 video assistant referees in Qatar.
VAR was first used in the World Cup four years ago in Russia.
