History made: Stephanie Frappart, the first women referee in a men’s Champions League game

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Posted By: students December 3, 2020

Meet the first woman referee of a men’s Champions League match

Stephanie Frappart got her name written in the history books by becoming the first female referee to take charge of a men’s Champions League match. The 36 year old Frenchwoman took charge of Juventus’s Group G match against Dynamo Kiev in Turin on Wednesday night. Juventus won the match 3-0, with Federico Chiesa, Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata being the goal scorers.

Image courtesy: Reuters

The Twitter handles of UEFA and FIFA Women’s World Cup congratulated her on the feat.

This is however not the first men’s football match that she has officiated as a referee. Stephanie made her debut in the French top flight football, Ligue 1, in April last year. She had officiated the match between Amiens and Strasbourg. Since then she had taken charge of two Europa League matches and refereed 18 matches in Spanish top tier football, La Liga. Her first Europa League game as a referee was between Leicester City and Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk. She also became the first female referee to officiate a men’s European final when she took charge of overlooking the UEFA Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea in September 2019. A month prior to that she amazed the world when she refered the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final between US and Netherlands.
This historic moment was also accompanied by Cristiano Ronaldo’s 750th career goal.
Inputs from Reuters
Edited by Madhurima Dutta