The French referee had been invited to the UEFA Men's Elite and First Referees course that took place last week. The Ukrainian Kateryna Monzul was also there. They can now be appointed to the KO stage of the two continental competitions that will start in February. As Iusport has learned, this summer’s Euro may mean that a woman will referee for the first time a match in the highest continental competition for men’s national teams under UEFA. After attending this course, Stephanie Frappart is among the candidates to referee in this tournament.
Stephanie Frappart rose to fame in August 2019 when she was chosen by UEFA to referee the men's European Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea, thus becoming the first woman to do so. That day she was assisted by other women: Manuela Nicosi and Michelle O'Neal. It was the Turkish Cuneyt Cakir who acted as the fourth referee. Frappart became in 2014 the first woman to referee a Ligue 2 match in France. It would be in April 2019 when she jumped to Ligue 1 debuting in an Amiens - Strasbourg, becoming the first woman to do so. At the international level, she was the referee chosen in 2018 by FIFA to referee the final of the U-20 Women’s World Cup held in France that faced Spain and Japan. A year later, she blew the whistle at the absolute Women's World Cup between the Netherlands and the United States. Last year she was chosen as the best referee in the world by the IFFHS. The French woman could now be appointed to referee a match in the final phase of the Champions League or Europa League that starts in February. She seems ready, as she has already refereed in both club competitions.
Kateryna Monzul became the first woman to referee a men’s Nations League match last November in the duel between San Marino and Gibraltar. She also refereed the opening match and the final of the 2015 Women's World Cup.
Elite Men (27): Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR), Michael Oliver (ENG), Anthony Taylor (ENG), Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP), Jesus Gil Manzano (ESP), Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP), Benoit Bastien (FRA), Clement Turpin (FRA), Deniz Aytekin (GER), Felix Brych (GER), Tobias Stieler (GER), Felix Zwayer (GER), Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE), Orel Grinfeeld (ISR), Daniele Orsato (ITA), Björn Kuipers (NED), Danny Makkelie (NED), Szymon Marciniak (POL), Artur Soares Dias (POR), Ovidiu Hategan (ROU), Istvan Kovacs (ROU), Sergei Karasev (RUS), William Collum (SCO), Ivan Kruzliak (SVK), Damir Skomina (SVN), Slavko Vincic (SVN), Cüneyt Cakir (TUR)
Elite Women (2): Stephanie Frappart (FRA), Kateryna Monzul (UKR).
First Category Men (24): Lawrence Visser (BEL), Irfan Peljto (BIH), Georgi Kabakov (BUL), Christopher Kavanagh (ENG), Jose Sanchez Martinez (ESP), Mattias Gestranius (FIN), Ruddy Buquet (FRA), Francois Letexier (FRA), Daniel Siebert (GER), Marco Guida (ITA), Davide Massa (ITA), Donatas Rumsas (LTU), Andris Treimanis (LVA), Serdar Gözübüyük (NED) Bartosz Frankowski (POL), Pawel Raczkowski (POL), Tiago Martins (POR), Robert Madden (SCO), Srdjan Jovanovic (SRB), Sandro Schärer (SUI), Matej Jug (SVN), Andreas Ekberg (SWE), Halil Meler (TUR), Ali Palabiyik (TUR).
The final decision on the referees who will be attending the European Championship will be made at the end of March. There will be 18 or 20 referees chosen from among the 27 referees of the Elite group, in addition to Frappart.
Source: Iusport