VIDEO. World Cup: French Stephanie Frappart will be the first woman to referee the match

“Quiet voice” but big “diplomat”: 38-year-old Frenchwoman Stéphanie Frappart will become the first woman to officiate a men’s World Cup meeting on Thursday evening, blowing her whistle in the Group E decider, Germany. Costa Rica. A meteoric rise and a flawless journey. A former AS Herblay player from the Paris region, Stephanie started refereeing at the age of 13. For five seasons, she scoured the stadiums of the second division of France before being promoted to the men’s Ligue 1 in the summer of 2019, something no other referee has managed to do before. Then everything happens very quickly. She became the first woman to head the European Super Cup in August 2019, the first woman to officiate the Champions League in December 2020, the first woman to officiate the Euro in 2021… And now she’s the head referee of the World. Cup in Qatar.

“The World Cup is the pinnacle, the biggest competition in the world. Representing France at the World Cup is a sea of ​​emotion and pride,” she said at a press briefing in Clairefontaine at the end of September after being booked to travel to Qatar. Stephanie prefers to see this not as a personal achievement, but as an “improvement in French arbitration”. “French refereeing is recognized by UEFA and FIFA, it’s good for French refereeing and football.”

Clement Turpin, another French referee in Doha who blew the whistle during the first round of the World Cup, praises his extensive experience. “She has participated in dozens of international competitions. She knows how to host an intercontinental event.” Stephanie Frappart is at one with the players in the game, whether on the pitch or on the sidelines. “She has a lot of diplomacy,” says Christophe Galtier. “All she has to do is look, smile, make a gesture… and it’s over.”

“She has a quiet voice, but she has charisma and personality,” continues midfielder Pierre Bouby, who spoke to her in Ligue 2 with Orléans. “She uses the right words, she explains, she is a diplomat and we can discuss with her.”

Obviously, she is regularly asked the question of how to be a woman among men. His answers, like his manner of negotiating, are firm and diplomatic. “I have always advocated that we be taken into account for our skills, and not necessarily for our gender. If girls have qualities, they should also be given the opportunity to realize them.”