England’s World Cup qualifier in Andorra to be officiated by female referee
Kateryna Monzul will be in charge, with Maryna Striletska and Svitlana Grushko as assistant referees and Stephanie Frappart as VAR
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An England match will be refereed by a woman for the first time when Kateryna Monzul takes charge of Saturday’s World Cup qualifier in Andorra.
Monzul will officiate the match at the Estadi Nacional, with Uefa’s official website confirming her fellow Ukrainians Maryna Striletska and Svitlana Grushko as assistant referees.
France’s Stephanie Frappart will be the VAR, with the fourth official and assistant VAR roles filled by men – Denys Shurman and Vikor Matyash respectively.
Monzul has refereed men’s matches before, becoming the first woman to take charge of a senior men’s international game for the Nations League clash between San Marino and Gibraltar in 2020.
She was also in the middle for Austria’s 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over Faroe Islands in March.
Her assistants in Vienna were both male, including Matyash, whereas this weekend the on-pitch team will be all-female.
Speaking when Monzul and Frappart were announced as referees for the March fixtures, Pierluigi Collina, chairman of Fifa’s referees committee said: “Fifa will continue to champion the development of female refereeing and I’m confident that the appointment of female match officials to men’s games will be absolutely commonplace in the future.”
Monzul, 40, has refereed at four Women’s World Cups, including the final in 2015 when the United States beat Japan 5-2.