In Qatar, for the first time, female referees will work games in a major men's competition.
FIFA confirmed three female referees and three female assistant referees among the 129 officials chosen for World Cup duty, including one man who sparked controversy in January for refereeing a heated African Cup of Nations match while suffering from heatstroke.
Stéphanie Frappart, the French referee who handled the 2019 Women's World Cup final, had already worked men's games in World Cup qualifying and the Champions League. This month, she also officiated the French Cup final for men.
“As always, the criteria we have used is ‘quality first’ and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide,” remarked Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA's Referees Committee, who worked the 2002 World Cup final. “In this way, we clearly emphasize that it is quality that counts for us and not gender.”
Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan are also among the 36 referees training for the competition, which runs from November 21 to December 18.
Neuza Back of Brazil, Karen Daz Medina of Mexico, and Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States are among the 69 assistant referees.
Collina remarked, "I hope that in the future, the selection of outstanding women's match officials for major men's championships would be considered usual rather than sensational.”
Janny Sikazwe of Zambia is one of the male referees, having blown the final whistle in an African Cup group match after 85 minutes and again 13 seconds before the end of the 90 minutes, with Mali leading Tunisia 1-0.
Officials ordered the teams back on the field 30 minutes after the game ended, but Tunisia refused. Despite Tunisia's official appeal, the result was later approved by the Confederation of African Football.
In Cameroon, the match was played in extreme heat and humidity, and Sikazwe later said that the difficult conditions caused him to become confused.
After overseeing two group games at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Sikazwe will be working at his second World Cup.
Because of the excessive heat in Qatar, FIFA decided to postpone the tournament to the cooler months of the year in 2015.
24 men have been chosen by FIFA to work on video evaluations. In 2018, the VAR system made its debut.
FIFA stated 50 referee-and-assistant trios began training for World Cup duty in 2019, with the project being hampered by travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Argentina, England, Brazil, and France each had two referees selected.
FIFA stated that all officials who were not assigned to specific three-person teams will be subjected to technical, physical, and medical evaluations this year.
