Orlando, United States.– Brazilian Edina Alves, 44, became on Monday the first woman to lead a female refereeing team in the history of the Copa América, Panama-Bolivia in Orlando on the third date of Group C of the 2024 edition of the United States.
Alves, a FIFA referee since 2016, blew her whistle at the stadium of Orlando City of the MLS, assisted on the sidelines by her compatriot Neuza Back and Colombian Mary Blanco.
“This is a major commitment made by Conmebol since 2016, which is committed to the development and professionalization of more women on and off the field of play,” Conmebol said in a statement, describing the appointment of the female trio as “historic.”
A graduate in physical education, Alves made her debut in the 2024 Copa América as the fourth assistant referee, in the match between Chile and Peru in Arlington (Texas), on the first date of Group A. Back accompanied her in that game as the fifth referee.
Alves played the same role in Uruguay-Bolivia, the second matchday of Group C in East Rutherford.
Both Brazilian referees have a significant international career.
They were the first female appointments to referee a match at the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar 2020, between South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai and Qatar’s Al-Duhail for fifth place.
Alves refereed four matches at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and four more at France 2019.
Both Alves and Back, a FIFA assistant coach since 2014, have been in charge of Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana matches.
Colombian Blanco, a FIFA assistant referee since 2016, participated in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the 2022 Women’s Euro Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, and since this year has been part of refereeing teams for matches in the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.
Eight of the 101 referees present at the 2024 Copa América are women.
In addition to Alves, American Maria Penso is the main referee. With Back and Blanco, Venezuelan Migdalia Rodríguez and Americans Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt complete the list of lines assistants, and Nicaraguan Tatiana Guzmán serves as VAR.
With information from AFP
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