This is a new first for Stéphanie Frappart. The French referee was appointed by UEFA on Monday November 30 for the match between Juventus Turin and Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday December 2 in the Champions League. She thus becomes the first woman to assume this responsibility in the prestigious continental competition.
Stéphanie Frappart, 36, had already been entrusted with the European Supercup of August 2019 between Liverpool and Chelsea, after having been the first woman to referee in the French Second Division (2014) then in the French men’s elite (2019 ), where she refereed her first Lyon-Marseille shock in early October.
On the European scene, she was also the first woman to lead an official international men’s meeting, with Malta-Latvia on September 6 in the League of Nations and refereed her first two Europa League meetings on October 22 (Leicester-Zorya Louhansk ), then November 26 (Grenada-Omonia Nicosia). She had also refereed the final of the 2019 World Cup.
Referee since he was 13
For her twelfth match of the season, she will lead a 100% French team to Juventus Stadium in Turin: Hicham Zakrani and Mehdi Rahmouni as assistant referees, Karim Abed as fourth referee and Benoît Millot and Willy Delajod on video.
The former AS Herblay player in the Paris region, who started refereeing at the age of 13, climbed step after step in the wake of two pioneers, the Swiss Nicole Petignat, the first woman to officiate in the UEFA Cup in 2003, and the German Bibiana Steinhaus, first female referee in a major European championship.
“It is a privilege, an honor and a responsibility at the same time. I hope that my career will encourage young girls to engage in arbitration ”, said Stéphanie Frappart in the summer of 2019 at the dawn of her first full season in the elite – finally interrupted by the coronavirus in March.
Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp praised the coolness of the referee and his assistants after the 2019 Supercup. “There was so much pressure for this historic moment… They stayed calm and did what they had to do. I couldn’t have more respect for Stéphanie Frappart ”, the German technician had said.
