At 44, Esther Staubli has suddenly decided to put away her whistle, the Swiss Football Association announced. “I have decided to now take new paths,” said Staubli, without providing further details. Last Friday, she managed one last match, the semi-final of the UEFA Women’s Nations League between France and Germany, in Lyon: “The loop of my active refereeing activity closes with one last international highlight. By taking part in the Nations League Finals, I was able to realize one last dream”.
The only female referee in the Swiss Super League, Esther Staubli had been a FIFA referee for 19 years. A long career during which she participated in three FIFA Women’s World Cups (2015, 2019, 2023), three Women’s European Championships (2013, 2017 including the final, 2022) and two Olympic Games (2016, 2021). She also refereed the final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League twice, in 2015 and 2020. To this must be added her presence at the FIFA U-17 (men’s) World Cup in 2017, as well as refereeing Azerbaijan-Sweden counting for the UEFA (men’s) Nations League, last November. In addition to her impressive international CV, the Swiss referee has 28 Super League, 59 Challenge League and 10 Swiss Cup matches to her credit.
“What Esther Staubli has done for Swiss refereeing is actually hard to put into words," says Sascha Amhof, Head of Refereeing at the Swiss Football Association. "She is a pioneer, role model and the female figurehead of the department. We take note of her decision in the year before the European Women's Championships in Switzerland with great regret”.
Source: SRF
