Referee Jana Adámková bid farewell to her active career on the domestic stage on Saturday's first division for women, in the match between Sparta Prague and Liberec. The 47-year-old referee from Brno will officiate at least one more match in the UEFA Women’s European Cup between Austria Vienna and Anderlecht Brussels on November 19, but the weekend duel between Sparta and Liberec was her final farewell to Czech competitions.
"I feel that the right moment has come, I have been making this decision for a long time. And it was one of the hardest I have ever made. A few tears fall because a big stage is coming to an end for me. I have always loved being on the field, I have experienced a lot with refereeing, and it has brought me great experience. And thanks to it, I have also met many great friends for life. But it is really the right time to stop being an active referee on the field," Adámková told fotbal.cz. She previously played football at the highest level, in 2000 and 2001 she even played six matches for the Czech national team and in the European Championship qualifying match against Croatia (July 2001) she scored a goal in a big Czech win of 5-0. Adamkova then turned her career towards refereeing, which she has been doing since 2002, and has also succeeded on the international stage: since 2007 she has been permanently listed on the FIFA list and has become one of the absolute world elites. She has participated in two FIFA Women's World Cups U-17 (2012, 2014) and U-20 (2016, 2018). In 2016, she refereed the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup final between France and Korea DPR. She has been appointed to the UEFA Women’s Euro twice (2017, 2022) and in 2019 she also appeared at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Another career highlight came in 2018, when Adamkova refereed the UEFA Women's Champions League final between Wolfsburg and Lyon. In November 2018, she became the second woman in the history of the domestic top league, after Dagmar Damková, to be appointed to a match in the domestic men's top league between Olomouc and Mlada Boleslav, where Adámková refereed a total of 12 matches, and was fourth official in four matches.
“I could hardly have asked for more from my refereeing career. World and European championship matches in various age categories, the Champions League… The opportunity to even be in the final matches of these top competitions is something I never dreamed of at the beginning of my career. The same applies to the opportunity to referee the highest men's domestic competition. These are experiences and unforgettable moments that I will carry with me forever,” said Adámková. In recent years, she has also been regularly appointed as a VMO for UEFA Women’s Champions League matches, having overseen a total of 98 matches and would like to continue in this role.
Jana Adámková (27 January 1978)
Referee: since 2002
FIFA Referee List: since 2007
International achievements:
2 x European Championships (2017, 2022)
1 x World Cup (2019)
2 x U-20 World Cup (2016, 2018), including the 2016 final (Korea DPR – France)
2 x U-17 World Cup (2012, 2014)
Women's Champions League Final: Referee (2018) / Fourth Official (2020)
27 matches in the Women's Champions League
Debut in the Czech men's top league: 25 November 2018 (Sigma Olomouc - Mladá Boleslav)
12 matches as referee and 4 matches as fourth official in the men's top competition.
Source: FACR
