Alves Named First Female Referee In Men's FIFA Competition

Edina Alves is set to become the first woman to officiate a professional men's football match organised by FIFA when she takes charge of a game at the FIFA Club World Cup in February. 

 

The 40-year-old Brazilian who has spent half of her life refereeing calls the feat boundary-breaking, a product of two decades of preparation and hard work.

Alves said her selection on Monday for the tournament in Qatar, which runs between February 1 and 11 is "a dream come true."

"I worked very hard, preparing myself for the day I would get a chance like this," she said.

Alves comes from the small rural town of Goioere, in the southern state of Parana

She put herself through night school for a degree in physical education by working at a garden shop, shoveling dirt into bags.

READ ALSO: UCL Live: Frappart To Referee Men's UCL Match, The Very First

As a young woman, she played five-on-five futsal. But in a world where men and machismo still dominate the game, she struggled to find enough teammates to put together a full women's football team, and never got the chance to play professionally.

"I played on my town's futsal team, but there was no women's professional football in those parts," she says.

She got her to start refereeing in 1999 when she was asked to fill in as an assistant referee at an amateur match.

By 2000, she was officiating professionally. Sometimes she served as a lineswoman, sometimes as the chief referee -- a job she took on full-time in 2014.

In 2019, she became the first woman to officiate a Brazilian men's first division match in 14 years. She has since added another 12 Brasilerao matches to her resume.

The same year, she refereed four matches at the Women's World Cup in France, including the semi-final between the United States and England.

"FIFA treats referees based purely on their ability, not their gender. If you're good, there's room for you," she said.

"We women are all preparing ourselves to rise to the challenge."

Besides Alves, who was chosen as one of seven chief referees, FIFA also named fellow women Neuza Back of Brazil and Mariana de Almeida of Argentina as two of the 12 assistant referees for the Club World Cup.

Stephanie Frappart of France last month became the first woman to referee a men's UEFA Champions League match.

Now Alves is set to break that barrier for FIFA at the Club World Cup, which will feature top teams including European champions Bayern Munich.

She does not plan to stop there.

Her next goal is to referee at this year's Tokyo Olympics.

"Who wouldn't want to go to the Olympics?" she said. "I do. And I'm working to get there."