The men’s Copa América, the oldest national football tournament on the planet, has begun.
According to the criteria of
And among its novelties there is one that stands out above all: unlike the Euro Cup, which is held in parallel on the old continent, the American tournament has eight female referees for the first time in its history.
The two main ones are the Brazilian one Edina Alves and the American one Tori Pensowho will serve as central judges for some of the Copa América matches.
In addition, five other women have been chosen as part of the group of line assistants.
They are Neuza Back (Brazil), Mary Blanco (Colombia), Migdalia Rodriguez (Venezuela), Brooke Mayo (USA) and Kathryn Nesbitt (USA.).
And in the VAR (video assistant referee), the competition will feature Nicaraguan Tatiana Guzmán.
In fact, this Friday Alves and Back were part of the body of referees who were in charge of the 0-0 draw between Chile and Peru.
“It’s a dream. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and say: ‘I’m achieving things in such a short time’, because I started as an international referee in 2016 and there are people who have 15 years at the international level and have not managed to be in important tournaments like this one or the Olympic Games, where I will also be,” Venezuelan Migdalia Rodríguez told the AFP news agency.
“Since I started, my physical preparation was always focused on wanting to reach the men’s tournaments,” he added.
This appointment is part of a growing trend: the arrival of women in the refereeing of men’s matches.
Tori Penso directed the 2023 Women’s World Cup final between England and Spain.
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In the last Qatar 2022 World Cup, a historic moment was marked when a woman, Frenchwoman Stephanie Frappart, coached for the first time in the largest soccer tournament, refereeing the Costa Rica – Germany match.
In addition, at the next Olympic Games, there will be 38 women among the 89 referees who will officiate the football matches of the world’s most important sporting event.
Who are they?
The appointment of Edina Alves, 44, is not a surprise.
Alves is one of the leading referees on the continent but, above all, she is the first woman to referee a professional men’s game organized by FIFA.
It happened in Qatar, at the 2021 Club World Cup, when he directed the match between Ulsan Hyundai of Japan and Al-Duhail of Qatar.
And she is a referee who followed the example of a “heroine” of the profession: Sílvia Regina de Oliveira, also Brazilian and the first woman to referee a Conmebol match in 2003.
“Girls who want to be referees should not be treated with pity. It is a difficult career, but luckily, at least in the refereeing department in Brazil, female referees are evaluated fairly and receive the same treatment as male referees. That is already a great achievement,” Álves told the newspaper El País.
The American Tori Penso, 39, will also direct some matches of this Copa América.
She has already distinguished herself in international refereeing: she was the head referee for the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, which was contested between England and Spain.
Colombian Mary Blanco is also making a name for herself, having been the first Colombian referee to take part in a women’s World Cup and being part of the refereeing team for the 2023 Colombian men’s soccer final between Millonarios and Atlético Nacional.
Venezuelan Migdalia Rodríguez will be one of the tournament’s linesmen.
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Rodríguez, for her part, has already been chosen for the Paris Olympic Games.
Brooke Mayo was an assistant at the 2023 Women’s World Cup final and has over 21 years of refereeing experience, while her partner Kathryn Nesbitt was one of the women who made history by joining the refereeing body in charge of the World Cup in Qatar.
And in the VAR there will be a pioneer of Nicaraguan professional football: Tatiana Guzmán. She was the first woman to referee a men’s football match in his country and now he is making history again from the VAR team of the 2024 Copa América.
“I think that, even in refereeing, this will be exciting for other girls, and also for the soccer teams, so that they know that they can be part of this,” Guzmán told the FIFA website
Mary Blanco was the first Colombian referee to be at a Women’s World Cup.
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Female referees who have made history
Although the first records of female refereeing date back to the 1930s with the appearance of the Austrian Edith Klinger, the truth is that FIFA names the Turkish Drahşan Arda as the first female referee in the history of football.
Arda became involved in refereeing during the 1960s, while working as a schoolteacher in the German region of Bavaria..
Over time, more women came to the game. Not only the aforementioned De Olivera and Frappert, but also other names that have left their mark.
Sweden’s Ingrid Jonsson, for example, was part of the refereeing team for the final of the first Women’s World Cup, which was held in China, when men still predominated.
In South America, in addition to Silva and De Olivera, in recent years Cláudia Vasconcelos Guedes has stood out.
The Brazilian was the first woman to officiate an official match in a tournament organized by FIFA: she was the central judge of the match for third place at the 1991 Women’s World Cup in China.
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