World Cup history to be made with female ref Stephanie Frappart to take charge of Germany clash against Costa Rica
FRANCE’S Stephanie Frappart will make World Cup history when she becomes the first woman to take charge of a match at the tournament.
And Germany coach Hansi Flick and Costa Rica counterpart Luis Fernando Suarez gave public votes of confidence in the ground-breaking whistler.
Frappart, 38, will have support from assistants Neuza Back of Brazil and Mexico’s Karen Diaz Medina in an all-female officiating trio.
Any doubts from fans over the appointment in such a high-profile encounter were dismissed by the rival coaches.
Flick, first to speak on Wednesday, said: “I trust her, 100 per cent.
“She deserves to be here because of her performances and what she has already achieved.
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“We are looking forward to this match and I hope she is as well. I’m sure she will perform very well.”
Suarez was even more encouraging as he suggested it was an overdue appointment.
He said: “I’m a great admirer of everything women have conquered and I like the fact that they want to keep on conquering things.
“This is another step forward that speaks volumes.
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“It shows what women have done to overcome things, especially in this sport which is a very sexist one.
“Everyone knows how difficult it is to reach the point she has reached but I like it and think it is a situation that is good for football and is another positive step for the game.
“It is opening up football for everybody.
“One good thing about football is that it has always been very democratic and this is also very democratic that we have a woman refereeing this match at the World Cup.”
On the appointment, former Premier League referee Mark Halsey was full of praise and backed Frappart to do well.
He said: "Stephanie Frappart fully deserves her World Cup appointment because she has proven she’s good enough over recent years in both the Champions League and World Cup qualifiers.
"The French referee has the experience to officiate at this level and it’s clear that the Fifa refs’ committee have full trust and belief in her ability to take charge of a tough match which could determine who qualifies from Group E.
"Her performances in the Champions League have been excellent so it’s good to see female officials given the opportunity in the men’s game."
Halsey explained there were three female refs in Qatar - Salima Mukansanga and Yoshimi Yamashita being the others.
And he added he sees no reason why the Premier League cannot see the same progress going forward.
He added: "I see no reason why we won’t see more female officials in the Premier League one day soon.
"We have had three female assistant refs in the top-flight with Natalie Aspinall this season following in the footsteps of Wendy Toms and Sian Massey-Ellis.
"The English Football League appointed its first female referee in 2021, Rebecca Welch, who has officiated in men’s games in the lower divisions.
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"Female officials do not get treated any differently to men and I believe if they are good enough then this is the future for refereeing in our country.
"Hopefully we will see more female officials moving higher up the refereeing pyramid into the Prem and on to the Fifa list."