For the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, six female referees will be among the officials who will handle games in the global event, from November 20 to December 18. Three of the referees, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda, Stephanie Frappart from France and Yoshimi Yamashita, are going to Qatar as centre referees. Karen Diaz Medina from Mexico, Neuza Back from Brazil and United States of America's Kathryn Nesbitt were assigned assistant referee roles. The FIFA referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina in October lauded the six female referees and noted that they are glad to call female referees for the world cup for the first time. With less than two weeks to the start of the world's biggest soccer showpiece, Times Sport profiles the three centre female referees who will be in Qatar. Salma Mukansanga (Rwanda) Salma will be the centre of attention after her impressive outing in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Tournament in Cameroon. The Rwandan referee became the first female to handle a men's game at the AFCON when she officiated a Group B encounter between Zimbabwe and Guinea at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium on January 18. Born and raised in Rusizi, Salma, 34, holds a nursing degree from the University of Gitwe in Rwanda's southern district of Ruhango. She has been a FIFA referee since 2012 and has officiated in other tournaments including the 2015 All Africa Games Men's football, 2019 FIFA Women's world cup, and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Yoshimi Yamashita (Japan) Born in Tokyo on February 20, 1986, Yamashita had her FIFA badge in 2015 and officiated in the 2019 FIFA Women's world cup in France as well as the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. She attended Tokyo Gakugei University and officiated in the Japanese first, second and third tier leagues respectively. In 2022, she became the first female referee to handle a game in the men's Champions League in Asia when she was appointed the centre referee for Melbourne City vs Chunnam Dragons and FC Tokyo vs Kyoto Sanga. Stephanie Frappart (France) The 38-year-old has been a FIFA referee since 2009 and was among the dominant female match officials in Europe. Domestically, Frappart officiated in all levels of professional league football in France ranging from the Championnat National up to Ligue 1. She also officiated at the 2019 European Super cup, Juventus versus Dynamo Kyiv in the 2020 Champions League as well as the 2022 Coupe de France final. Internationally, Frappart handled games at the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's world cup in Canada and France, respectively. She became the first female referee to handle a world cup qualifier which was a game between Netherlands and Latvia. She was voted by the International Federation of Football History and statistics as the best female referee in the world for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
