Stephanie Frappart officiated the Champions League group stage clash between Juventus and Dynamo Kyiv, thereby writing her name into the record books.
Football is a game that thrives on its ability to promote equality and for many years, the game’s governing body has striven to create as much female involvement in the game as possible.
However, despite the very incredible efforts of FIFA and other regional bodies, there still remains a visible gap between the male and female games.
Steps have been taken to address this, and dividends have been reaped in the last decade and the last FIFA Women’s World Cup in France broke several records for both attendance and viewership.
Women have also began taking strides to gain visibility in the men’s game, with Kathleen Kruger currently acting in a high capacity as first-team manager at Bayern Munich, while Helena Costa was also appointed as a scout by Eintracht Frankfurt some years ago.
The field of refereeing is, however, where women have been most visible and having acted as lineswomen for several years, women have gone one step further by taking center stage.
Stephanie Frappart is the most high profile female referee
In this regard, Stephanie Frappart serves as the flagbearer for women all over the world and she is unarguably the most high profile female referee on the planet.
The 36-year-old has officiated on the highest levels of the women’s game, including refereeing the final of the 2019 Women’s World Cup between the United States and Netherlands in her home country.
She had earlier become the first woman to referee a game in the Ligue 1 when she officiated the league clash between SC Amiens and RC Strasbourg on April 28, 2019.
Later in the year on August 2, 2019, Stephanie Frappart became the first woman to officiate a major men’s European match when she took charge of the UEFA Super Cup clash between Chelsea and Liverpool.
Further records were broken when she officiated the Europa League group stage game between Leicester City and Zorya Luhansk on October 22, 2020 but her biggest achievement to date came at the Allianz Stadium.
Here, she became the first woman to officiate a Champions League game and having discharged her duties effectively, hopefully, this would serve as impetus for more inclusiveness in the game of football.
