Not the first, but wonderful

American Tori Penso became the second woman to referee a men's match at the World Championships

On Thursday, the match between the Czech Republic and South Africa was officiated by US referee Tori Penso. She gave it an A+. However, many still cannot get used to the fact that ladies from time to time whistle at gentlemen in boots and get into their big showdowns...

If you dive into history, you can see that representatives of the fairer sex tried to infiltrate the men's football community back in the last century. In the 30s, Austrian Edith Klinger even received a special license to work at matches in the lower divisions. But she didn’t waltz in a black uniform for long: the fascists who came to power forbade her to engage in inappropriate gags.

40 years later, the Brazilian Lea Campos ran into the men's garden - a heroic person and known not only for her external data. She obtained the qualifications of a referee, despite the fact that in her homeland organized women's football in those years was prohibited at the legislative level. In one of the interviews, she honestly told who was slowing her down on the way to her big goal: “FIFA President Joao Havelange assured me that a woman’s physique is not suitable for serving in men’s battles, and said that ladies with a whistle are barred from entering the field while he is in power.” But no one stopped the winner of several beauty contests from taking an eight-month course in judging. As a result, she will fiercely fight for her rights, she will be arrested, but she will achieve her goal and will eventually play about 100 matches in minor Brazilian leagues...

Also, around the same time, the Turkish Arda and the Swede Ingrid Holmgren also performed bold partisan-judicial tricks. However, their field successes were, as they say, local. And not at all loud.

And only in the 21st century, when everything mixed up in international football, women in multi-colored equipment began to approach the harsh male territory thoroughly. The breakthrough came in the summer of 2003, when FIFA appointed Swiss Nicole Petineau for the UEFA Cup preliminary round match between Swedish AIK and Icelandic Fylkir. The debut on August 14 was a success. And, as they say, “the dungeons collapsed.”

I won’t list all the strict women who appeared on the field at matches of men’s teams, but I will still name a couple of iconic people. Bibiana Steinhaus opened a window into the Bundesliga and also refereed the 2003 German Cup final. She is also remembered for the fact that during the German championship match between Hertha and Werder Bremen, she ironically smiled at the home team’s defender after he accidentally touched her chest with his hand (the video of that scene went viral).

And in 2016, Greek Chrysoula Kourobilia became the first female referee to work in the qualifying tournament of the continental championship. In the Euro 2016 qualification, she ran along the touchline with a flag in the Moldova - Russia match and earned praise from Leonid Slutsky...

Well, at the previous 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA included three ladies among the main referees: Frenchwoman Stephanie Frappart, Rwandan citizen Salima Mukansanga and Japanese Yoshimi Yamashita.

And it was 38-year-old (at that time) Frappart who jumped into history. She very quickly ended her playing career and decided to master a thankless profession, in which she was very successful. She officiated at meetings of the elite French Ligue 1, refereed the final of the national Cup, dealt with the dispute between Liverpool and Chelsea in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup match, and became famous for calling three penalties in 30 minutes in the 2022 Champions League match between Real Madrid and Celtic. And everyone was on point.

In Qatar, Stephanie was listed as the fourth, reserve referee in the matches Portugal - Ghana and Poland - Mexico. But few believed that she or any of her beautiful colleagues would be trusted to “interpret” men’s sparring in the Middle East. However, everything happens for the first time.

On December 1, Frappart led the national teams of Germany and Costa Rica onto the field at Al-Bayt Stadium. She was assisted on the sideline by the Mexican Medina and the Brazilian Beck. And the women’s squad did not spoil the mass, although experts were worried that in a match where a ticket to the 1/8 finals was at stake, something could happen that even the authoritative Frappart could not cope with. But Stephanie did not shy away, sounded cheerful and earned very flattering assessments.

And now, almost four years later, the great and terrible Pierluigi Collina, the current head of the FIFA and UEFA referee committees, decided to once again entrust a responsible matter to a woman. The choice fell on 39-year-old American Tori Penso, who already had the final of the 2023 Women's World Cup, the opening match of the 2023 Men's Club Planetary Championship, as well as qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup in the CONCACAF zone...

In short, on June 18 at 12.00, a thin, fair young lady loudly whistled for the national teams of the Czech Republic and South Africa, who opened the second round. The fans in the stands probably made bets on how many times the American would make mistakes and at what minute one of the players would curse at her.

However, there was essentially nothing to complain about to Tory. It seemed like there was a computer in her head: she recorded fouls so clearly and quickly, of which, by the way, there were more than twenty during the match.

All awarded free kicks and corners were undisputed. Not a single mistake when determining offside! Three yellow cards from Madame Tory for rudeness, as they say, are difficult to dispute. In the 33rd minute, she actually demonstrated a master class: she allowed the Czechs to continue the attack, and then presented the so-called delayed mustard plaster to the offender from South Africa. And in the 44th minute, she immediately corrected her assistant’s mistake on the touchline and handed the right to a throw-out to the South Africans.

At the same time, Penso was completely invisible on the field, but at the same time she controlled the hot play easily, gracefully and very confidently. From time to time, she vividly explained her decisions to the actors in spats who ran up to her with questions and made it clear that there was no point in discussing with her. In the second half, in one of the episodes, the American even helped the forward in a yellow jersey, who did not want to get up from the lawn, to get up. In the 77th minute, she replaced the deflated ball with a new one. And after 240 seconds, she saw that after the South African’s shot he hit the outstretched hand of Pavel Schultz, and without any request from the VAR system, she pointed to the spot.

The only controversial point: in the 58th minute, Tory did not see a simulation on the part of the Czech player Cherv, who deserved a color warning for his spectacular fall. However, that blot did not affect the course of the match, which ended in a fighting draw (1:1).

And personally, I liked the concert under the control of the all-female crew (Tori Penso, Brooke Mayo, Catherine Nesbitt). I would nominate the peppy trio for one of the playoff matches without hesitation.

...And here’s what Georgy Cherdantsev said about this refereeing: “In my opinion, this is a naive idea that female referees will force football players to behave more decently. While this looks like a curiosity, of course, they will watch their language, but when female refereeing becomes a common practice everywhere, football players will just as habitually send them “on” and “in”. And in the comments they immediately answered him: “Women referees are better than Cherdantsev the commentator.”