October 31, 2020 French referee Stephanie Frappart looks on during
the French L1 football match behind closed doors, between Stade
Rennais Football Club and Stade Brestois 29 at The Roazhon Park, in
Rennes, western France. Jean-Francois MONIER / AFP
France’s Stephanie Frappart will become the first woman
to referee a men’s Champions League match on Wednesday when
Juventus host Dynamo Kiev in Turin, European football’s governing
body UEFA confirmed.
The 36-year-old has already made history as the first woman to
referee in the French top flight, and took charge of the 2019 UEFA
Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea. She also made her
Europa League debut in October.
It is the first time that a woman has been assigned to referee a
game in Europe’s most prestigious club competition.
Italian giants Juventus host Ukrainian side Dynamo in Group G at
the Allianz Stadium.
READ ALSO: Ademola Lookman Scores As Fulham Shock
Leicester, Climb Out Of Relegation Zone
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juve, second in the group, are already
through to the last 16 along with leaders Barcelona with two games
to play.
Frappart, who started refereeing at the age of 13, was the first
woman referee in the French second division in 2014, moving up to
the men’s Ligue 1 five years later.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
In Europe, she was also the first woman to referee a men’s
international when she took charge of September’s Nations League
match between Malta and Latvia, and she recently refereed her first
two Europa League matches — Leicester v Zorya Luhansk on October 22
and Granada v Omonia Nicosia last Thursday.
Frappart follows in the footsteps of two trailblazers in Nicole
Petignat, the first woman to officiate in the UEFA Cup in 2003, and
Bibiana Steinhaus, who became the first woman referee in a major
European league when she arrived in Germany’s Bundesliga.
“It is at the same time a privilege, an honour and a
responsibility,” Frappart said before her first full season at the
top in 2019/2020 which was cut short because of the coronavirus
pandemic.
“I hope that my career will encourage young girls to become
involved in refereeing.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised Frappart and her
assistants’ handling of the 2019 Super Cup final.
“There was so much pressure for an historic moment. They
remained calm and did what they had to do. I couldn’t have more
respect for Stephanie Frappart,” said the German.
AFP