This Japanese Woman Referee Has Become One Of The First Women To Officiate Matches At The World Cup
Yoshimi Yamashita says she hopes she can inspire more women and help to normalize seeing women referees on the pitch.
Meet Yoshimi Yamashita, the first Japanese woman to serve as a referee at the World Cup.
Yamashita is among three women referees selected to oversee matches at the tournament in Qatar.
The other two women in the pool of 36 candidates on FIFA’s World Cup referee list this year include France’s Stéphanie Frappart and Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga.
“For us women to participate in the men’s World Cup for the first time is sending a message that there are more opportunities for women in the future,” Yamashita told Reuters.
She has previously officiated at the Women’s World Cup and Tokyo Olympics.
She hopes more women will be inspired to break into the male-dominated event.
“There are barely any female referees in the Middle East,” she said. “After the World Cup, it would be wonderful to see even just one more female referee.”
On Dec. 1, three women referees from France, Brazil and Mexico made history as the first all-women referee team to take charge of a men’s World Cup match for the first time in 96 years.
France’s Stéphanie Frappart was appointed head referee, along with two assistant referees, Brazil’s Neuza Back and Mexico’s Karen Diaz Medina, to officiate the group stage game between Costa Rica and Germany.
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