Stéphanie Frappart the first woman to officiate at WC: she has been assigned to Costa Rica - Germany, decisive game for qualification. Anthony Taylor gets a crucial game involving two European sides as second appearance, the same for Raphael Claus in the other game of group F. Victor Gomes from South Africa will be the man in the middle for Japan - Spain.
Game 41 - Al-Rayyan (16:00 CET)
CROATIA - BELGIUM
CROATIA - BELGIUM
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Nunn (ENG)
Fourth Official: Istvan Kovacs (ROU)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Mihai Artene (ROU)
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Fritz (GER)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
Offside Video Assistant Referee: Rafael Foltyn (GER)
Support Video Assistant Referee: Benoit Millot (FRA)
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jan Seidel (GER)
Game 42 - Doha (16:00 CET)
CANADA - MOROCCO
CANADA - MOROCCO
Referee: Raphael Claus (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodrigo Figueiredo (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Danilo Simon (BRA)
Fourth Official: Yoshimi Yamashita (JPN)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Michael Orue (PER)
Video Assistant Referee: Julio Bascuñan (CHI)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martinez (ESP)
Video Assistant Referee: Julio Bascuñan (CHI)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martinez (ESP)
Offside Video Assistant Referee: Roberto Diaz Perez Del Palomar (ESP)
Support Video Assistant Referee: Leodan Gonzalez (URU)
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Pau Cebrian Devis (ESP)
Game 43 - Al Rayyan (20:00 CET)
JAPAN - SPAIN
JAPAN - SPAIN
Referee: Victor Gomes (RSA)
Assistant Referee 1: Zakhele Thusi Siwela (RSA)
Assistant Referee 2: Souru Pathsoane (LES)
Fourth Official: Salima Mukansanga (RWA)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Malick El Hadji Samba (SEN)
Video Assistant Referee: Fernando Guerrero (MEX)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Armando Villarreal (USA)
Offside Video Assistant Referee: Kyle Atkins (USA)
Support Video Assistant Referee: Adil Zourak (MAR)
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Nicolas Taran (URU)
Game 44 - Al Khor (20:00 CET)
COSTA RICA - GERMANY
COSTA RICA - GERMANY
Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Neuza Back (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Karen Diaz Medina (MEX)
Fourth Official: Said Martinez (HON)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Walter Lopez (HON)
Video Assistant Referee: Drew Fischer (CAN)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jerome Brisard (FRA)
Offside Video Assistant Referee: Kathryn Nesbitt (USA)
Support Video Assistant Referee: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Corey Parker (USA)
Oh my god. What a catastrophic appointment for CRCGER
ReplyDeleteThis has disaster written all over it.
ReplyDeleteConsider renaming to "that clown". :)
DeleteRead the room champ
DeleteGiving her a game, I have no issue with
Giving her a game with skin in it.... if Germany go out to a referee error, then its bye bye female officials and bye bye Collina
To add another degree to that, she is not very good (in the mens space)
DeleteRefereeing is dead! So unfair to some other referees
ReplyDelete4 words: It is a disgrace.
ReplyDeletehttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/E0sdM7FXsAgQYYM.png
Kind of ironic that the ref was male in that game, don't you think...
DeleteYou're surely referring to the fact that Kovacs didn't, and will surely not have, an appointment.
DeleteI'm also a big fan of Kovacs but it's no reason to qualify this as a disgrace. Kovacs had ultra-big clashes as 4th ref, even better than Martinez' ones, and I expect him to have 30% chances to get 4th ref spot in SF or F in case of a top UEFA ref appointment.
As my romanian friends would say : Deocamdata dute sa plingi in coltzu tau si laso pe Frappart sasi faca treaba :)
It is about meritocracy. Simple. Nothing more.
DeleteAbsolutely impossible to expect this assignment for a game that will be crucial for qualification. I think this has been made on the quality of both teams, but still...
ReplyDeleteAgain, some scored from MD1 ruined the plans by committee, it is now very clear, they would have appointed her in a rather meaningless game, but almost no options, so...
I expected Frappart to be appointed (for a different, not decisive match but still), but the appointments seems strange to me: She is appointed with two ARs from different continents even, while Brisard as the logical choice as VAR is only AVAR.
ReplyDeleteCanada does have French as a language that's spoken so drew might speak French. Don't forget Taylor and Oliver have been given vars from countries where English isn't the primary language
DeleteOf course: Congrats and all the best for Frappart. In fact, I do not expect German commentators or experts to be unfair to her, quite the contrary. But it will be very interesting to see how the match will go.
Delete@David Sure, but here it seems particular to me, not from a language but from a country perspective. Oliver and Taylor do not have countrymen with them.
DeleteI also think, that German media will see this appointment mostly positive and benevolent.
DeleteAnd if Germany is eliminated, there will be other things discussed and not the referee performance...
The expectation probably is, that Germany wins against Costa Rica even if they get two wrong KMIs against them.
Congratulations to Stephanie and her team. Let's hope that this won't be the last match in a world cup to have a lady in the middle. I stopped selecting them in the MD predictions as they were only being used for 4th official duties tbh.
ReplyDeleteMaybe FIFA wanted to appoint Makkelie to an European team so the focus isn't on breaking the confederation rule for this game?
ReplyDeleteIt also looks like FIFA tried to compensate for having an European referee by having almost every single CONCACAF federation represented in this referee team, really weird after following the confederation rule for 2 entire matchdays
One of the best refereeing performances in 2022 was Istvan Kovacs's UCL semifinal (City-Real) and poor guy is only support referee in Qatar while Frappart got her match only for being woman. Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how Istvan Kovacs is feeling now, seeing Frappart appointed in a crucial match while he's getting his 500th game as 4th official at this WC. No disrespect to her, but it's obvious she got this appointment mainly because she's a female and it makes FIFA "look good".
ReplyDeleteImpossible to predict CRCGER.
ReplyDeleteNow, predictions:
Switzerland-Serbia - Marciniak
Cameroon-Brazil - Siebert
Korea-Portugal- Valenzuela
Uruguay-Ghana- Tello? Rapallini? (confederations rule?)
Appointment for last match will be very interesting. Maybe Marciniak for this clash and one of the Argentinian for Switzerland-Serbia?
I think Collina will send Marciniak to that game, given the story and what happened before. Big trust in the Polish.
DeletePossible that confederations rule will be broken again in Uruguay - Ghana, we could see Rapallini.
Valenzuela should indeed get something important to make sense with his first assignment, otherwise he would have got a different game as first one.
Siebert quite likely for CMR - BRA.
We will know tomorrow.
Yes, Rapallini could very well get SRB-SUI. Would be strange not to use him in an important MD3 game.
DeleteAnd it makes Marciniak available for GHA-URU.
Also possible to see Al Jassim in CMR-BRA or KOR-POR, I think.
Any CONMEBOL referees not used could be early favourites for ENG-SEN and NED-IRN/USA, if those happen.
DeleteI go for
DeleteSKO - POR Tello
GHA - URU Siebert
KAM - BRA Al Jassim
SER - SUI Marciniak
Maybe are some changes because what I saw, Ortega and Ma Ning don't work today and tomorrow like a FO. So, Ortega in South Korea vs Portugal, and Ma Ning in Brazil game.
DeleteVery disappointed with the distressing level of reactionary and archaic comments in these comments. One reads nonsense, but what does this have to do with Kovacs or Makkelie? This is progress gentlemen, like it or not, let's stop living in the world of the past!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Stéphanie!
A simple question for these gentlemen: what would Frappart have had to do more to be nominated for this match? She has refereed a women's World Cup final, a European supercup, several European cup matches, and is entering her 4th season in Ligue 1: yes gentlemen, she deserves it! Bonne chance Stéphanie!
For her, sure a great achievement. But the fact that we start to not to care about meritocracy because of controversial politics. And please, don't go back to European Supercup appointment. That was a disgrace.
Delete@Ref you are mixing the word progress with political or kissing ass,excuse my language.
Delete"Deserves"
DeleteI think the last time I watched her on a mens game, she shit the bed but people were too PC to say so. This is the biggest show in the world. There is no room for sentiment, but this is what is happening. Judge her in two days regardless of her gender and lets see if everyone judges her by the same bar as they judge others. I do not think she has the referee talent to succeed
The media's job is to report FACTS, not externalise their worldview. It is an insult to the intelligence of normal people who, understandably, don't give a s**t about the WC referee selection process, contrary to us. They ask normal people to believe that if only we didn't live a society/societies that are *so* sexist, there would have been many female referees at the WC in the past - only now, in a 'fairer' society, they have a chance. It is insulting to their intelligence, tbh.
ReplyDeleteThe behaviour of the wider media during this whole saga (and ofc it will never stop now) has been, at best poor journalism, and in reality, pretty shameful and malicious. Think how many 'Tabarellis' there are who try to present the view that this is somehow deserved DESPITE taking the time to realise that it isn't... this absurd, absurd appointment would NOT have been possible if the media would do their job properly.
Look, there are BY FAR more important things in the world about who referees Game X or Y at the World Cup, and I wish Stéphanie and crew the best of luck, but someone has to draw the line in the sand somewhere and call a spade, a spade.
Thanks for the intervention, Mikael. At least there are still people who dare to day what they think.
DeleteAgree with you, Mikael.
DeleteAgree with you Mikael
DeleteGermany's biggest newspaper (the German "Sun") Bild has it on their frontpage now with the title:
ReplyDelete"Female referee whistles our "final" against Costa Rica - Finally FIFA dames (wordplay between dare and dame) something."
Sounds like Infantino accomplishes exactly what he wanted, good press... hopefully some big media outlets shine a light on how ridiculous this is instead of just parroting the company line from FIFA...
DeleteNo one will,they are just gonna praise him for his bravery to appoint female ref.
DeleteIt's amazing how easy it is to lose focus in today's society on some nonsense. The main game of the day is Belgium v Croatia, but nobody cares.
ReplyDeleteTrue. We should also say something about the other games.
DeleteTaylor with a top clash, that probably also is a direct game for qualification, i.e. a very good appointment for him, surely not worse than Oliver's. Will be interesting, who gets out of MD3 as "winner" between the two Englishmen and gets more in the KO stage. Only two days of rest doesn't seem to be a problem for FIFA.
Claus is the first non-UEFA referee in a game, where they were possible by confederation neutrality. IMO a better appointment than Sampaio's second game, so Claus should be ahead, if he performs at least OK.
Gomes with a deserved good game as well. Similar importance compared to Ghorbal's game, so this might be a race for the CAF KO stage spot (of course, there should be the option to use both again, if their performances suggest that). Also similar teams as in his first game.
BTW, Ma and Ortega don't work the next two days. So if we can have a debut in CRC-GER, why not in KOR-POR or CMR-BRA...?
ReplyDeleteRather them than Kovacs if you ask FIFA...
DeletePorque no tienen vagina.
DeleteWe all should comment the assignment of S. Frappart with the same fairness, as we comment other refs, whose assignments surprise us - for instance in CL - and some of us have serious doubts about - but still we wish the assigned ref and his/her team all the best and wait for the facts set on the pitch. Bonne chance, Madame Frappart!
ReplyDeleteThis discussion is by far more read (double of the readers) and discussed than the one with today's games...that's also because nothing so much relevant is happening in the games, but surely these statistics can say us how much relevance has this news for refereeing.
ReplyDeleteI can confirm that there are articles in all the newspapers in Germany, kicker even sent a "news alert“ push message. Frappart will definitely be in the focus, but German media is very positive about the appointment, even BILD.
DeleteGreat appointment for Frappart. I expected her to be in at least one game (my guess was England - Wales) because after all, what is the point in selecting female referees if you don't appoint them.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I'm shocked by most of the reactions, especially by Mikaels. I think especially in this World Cup this is a great appointment. After everything that happened with the people building the stadiums, with the boycot of One Love statements by FIFA, this is finally a move that shows progress towards a more equal football society. It shows little girls that they can get to the highest stage of world football as well. Very inspirational! I sure hope Frappart will do well.
This doesn't show progress at all. This is an appointment by Infantino to try to cover his own ass for all the awful examples you gave, to try to make him look progressive and win free PR.
DeleteBut there is nothing progressive about this appointment. If a female referee progressed through the refereeing pyramid the same way as a male and qualified for the World Cup on the basis of merit, then absolutely that would be fine! Forcing an appointment by cutting all the corners and skipping all the steps in between is a PR move, not progress.
What's more, I would even say this is a BAD thing long-term for the perception of future female referees who DO earn their place. Because people will be able to point to appointments like this (or like the Super Cup, or her WCQ games, or the CWC fifth place match Batista Alves did, etc etc etc) and say "well, female referees are only appointed for their gender." This is completely backwards and does female referees a disservice.
Completely agree, Smala
DeleteShe is only appointed cause of her gender,whole gender equality thing is really making me sick.
ReplyDeleteThat's present during the matches where she officiates also,some players are afraid to say and behave like they would with male ref cause they know media would bash them so hard,therefore the media is so toxic and can make you go up one day and the other day can make you go all the way to the bottom.
The world should work like this:if you're good at something and with time your work ethic and quality proves that,than you get a chance at the top.
The top here is WC, some refs dreams and for sure now they are victim of Fifa politics and their way of trying to make everyone happy.
I think that she does not qualify over some male refs who are 3x better than her.NOT CAUSE OF HER GENDER,BUT SHE IS SIMPLY NOT BETTER THAN PLENTY MALE REFS!
She having match before Kovacs is such a I dont know what to say;criminal,stupid decision ,politics,undeserved and so on.
And it is not the coincidence that they appoint her in a match where Germany plays,they just killed two birds with one stone.
Funniest thing: we can look forward to all the racist tropes about Costa Rica team being 'uncivilised', 'uneducated', 'uneducated', 'SEXIST', blah blah blah from the same (Western) media, when/if Frappart loses control of the game...
DeleteJust to make things clear: Yes, I am upset that Kovacs is only 4th official. I don't consider that 1 game was an exagerate request in the year when he handled a UCL semifinal(!) and UECL final. There are many very experienced UEFA referees, but with all objectivity - Kovacs is over Siebert in this moment. But the fact that Frappart was appointed and Kovacs not, well I consider this an insult to meritocracy.
DeleteI've learned long ago that, when dealing with such topics, ANY reasonable discussion becomes impossible because anything you say can lead to an accusation of sexism, chauvinism, racism, bigotry etc., thrown toward you. That is why I won't say anything more about that topic and will let silence speak for itself. However, let me also congratulate Stephanie Frappart, Neuza Back and Karen Diaz Medina for their appointment and wish them good luck. They are absolutely not to blame for FIFA politics and PR and their performance should be analysed in the same manner as any other referee (which I'm sure will be the case on this excellent blog).
DeleteTo comment on Taylor, he gets the top match,expecting okay performance from him cause both teams are not some dirty teams,they only focus on playing football so I dont expect challenging match fo him.
ReplyDeleteOgólnie powiem tak. Dramat. Frappart nie jest wybitnym arbitrem a mecz bardzo ważny.
ReplyDeleteProbably Frappart is saved for the final, but she must have some warm-up before.
ReplyDeleteI want to see tomorrow's assignments...
ReplyDeleteFor me, there are 4 names that deserve a 2nd game: Valenzuela, Marciniak, Siebert, Rapallini I would divide them like this:
CAM-BRA: Siebert
SRB-SUI: Rapallini
GHA-URU: Marciniak
KOR-POR: Valenzuela
I don't see any chance for Al Jassim, perhaps we would say that because he is the "host referee" he would have to have another game, but based on his performance in USA-WAL I see him below the Argentine, Venezuelan, German and Polish.
Interesting. I see AI-Jassim performance in USA-WAL as the top 5 in this WC. Great technical skills were shown and he had full control in a quite challenging game, especially the first half. I agree that Siebert, Marciniak, Valenzuela were good, but let's not forget Siebert's game was very easy. Rapallini IMO was not good enough in MD1. He was just average if consider his reputation
DeleteSome of these comments are utterly disgusting, and you Neanderthals should be ashamed of yourselves. Frappart is a great referee and has earned at least a group stage game.
ReplyDeleteWhat DOES bother me is that in the interest of making the first all-female crew, they have assigned her ARs that are from different nations- Brazilian AR, Neuza Back, and Mexican AR, Karen Diaz Medina.
There is a reason ARs are usually from the same nation or AT LEAST are native speakers of the same language. In this case we have French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
While all three are excellent refs and they know multiple languages, this is a bad decision anyway. Give them all games with their own nations' crews.
Great? She is not a great referee. Collina is a great referee. Irmatov is a great referee. She is an ok referee in the male space that is not Uefa Elite so stop with the hyperbole. If you want to call her a great referee in the female space, that is totally fair.
DeleteShe has not 'earned' this. She has had it 'given' to her
Gender is not important for me, my criterion is referee's performance and quality of the referee ONLY.
DeleteAnd you are telling me that Frappart is better performer or has more quality than other referees from WC list? Ok.
IMO she is not even better than certain UEFA referees who stayed at home and are not on the list of referees for the World Cup.
So, to repeat myself, without sexism and chauvinism, I only consider the quality of the judge as a criterion.
All the best.
Why do you contend this will be a disaster? Frappart is a solid referee.
ReplyDeleteUpdated Predictions for Group G and H
ReplyDeleteCameroon - Brazil: Daniel Siebert (Already reported on IG Schriedrichter)
Serbia - Switzerland: Jesus Valenzuela
South Korea - Portugal: Facundo Tello
Uruguay - Ghana: Szymon Marciniak
I am usually a big fan of this blog. But what is going on here is almost unbearable. I am shocked by the comments of some here. It's the same populist talk that you usually only hear from regulars' tables. We should know better. For all women, it's a signal: you can achieve everything that was previously reserved for men. Let's rejoice with Stephanie and stop this terrible envy debate.
ReplyDeleteRespectfully, Jack, I disagree with your point about the "signal" this sends. It doesn't send the signal that woman can achieve what men can, because that's not what happened. Frappart didn't achieve this game in the same way that the men do. She was *given* it on the basis of her gender. When the day comes that a female referee climbs the same ladder as male referees and makes it to the top, then we can rejoice. But that day is not today.
DeleteThe "signal" this sends to the world is that female referees are given games for their gender despite being far more unqualified than their male counterparts. That is a terrible message to send, which does a disservice to the female referees around the world who actually *are* appointed on merit.
Very well said! Smala, I think this is one of the best comments I ever seen in this blog
DeleteOf course she did or she wouldn't have been picked for it there is absolutely nothing political about this appointment it is very well deserved she might only be category 1 as a men's official but she deserves everything she's accomplished
ReplyDeleteLike most people, I am very disappointed whenever when the appointments are not based on performance. We all remember the story about Cakir in EURO 2021. Meanwhile, I am also shock by people who support the decision of Frappart getting this game. Completely non-sense appointment which is only based on gender. This is the worst appointment in WC history.
ReplyDeleteCircus Colina🎪
DeleteKovacs from the UCL semi-finals works as the fourth officials, Frappart from fhe GS UECL works as the head referee. Shame, shame, shame on you guys from FIFA!!!
Delete@Sam
DeleteGender is not important for me, my criterion is referee's performance and quality of the referee ONLY.
And you are telling me that Frappart is better performer or has more quality than other referees from WC list? Ok.
IMO she is not even better than certain UEFA referees who stayed at home and are not on the list of referees for the World Cup.
So, to repeat myself, without sexism and chauvinism, I only consider the quality of the judge as a criterion.
If 30 female referees are the best referees in the world, I really don't have a problem with 30 female referees officiating on the WC.
Cheers
Of course she's earned this appointment or she wouldn't have been picked for it there is absolutely nothing political about this appointment it is very well deserved she might only be category 1 as a men's official but she deserves everything she's accomplished
DeleteDrMr, I think you completely misunderstand what I said. "I am very disappointed whenever when the appointments are not based on performance". I strongly believe performance should be the only measurement in referees' appointment. What I said above 100% matched with your sentence - "So, to repeat myself, without sexism and chauvinism, I only consider the quality of the judge as a criterion."
Delete@Sam
DeleteSorry, I tagged wrong person
I think that frappart is not the best possible ref for that game but i think she can handle the game good enough to justify the appointment. Lets not forget theres always politics includet in the appointments. As it's okay to decide the refs concidering their continents, why not gender. I even think that frappart won't be the worst ref in these world cup so why not.
ReplyDeleteFully agree, we have 36 referees at this tournament. They will not all have the same experiences, qualities, and records going in simply based on where they were born.
DeleteSome from whom lots was expected made errors or had a bad game with their team and can't be considered in the later games. Others from whom less was expected rose to the challenge and had excellent games.
To say one appointment is more "political" or "unfair" than others is going way too far. We all knew that this appointment was coming. Now that it's here, judge the officiating team for what they do on the field. Unfortunately, based on many comments here, that adjudication may come with quite some confirmation bias.
What I dont really like is that VAR in CRO-BEL are Germans, and the next opponent of the team that finishes the 1st in the group will likely be Germany if they win. Could have been prevented, just in case
ReplyDeleteIf I see comments that the only criterium should be quality and performance I wonder why it is not seen as an issue that CAF and AFC will double their spots for WC2026. Only a very few times these teams made it to the QF. These extra spots are given because FIFA want's to develop football to the whole world. The WC should be a bit more than a UEFA/CONMEBOL championship.
ReplyDeleteSame applies for female referees. FIFA wants to develop female refereeing hence the appointment of Frappart. You might not agree to develop female refereeing or see a different path for development of female refereeing but that is a different discussion. Colina is daring enough to take this step. That is the reason he is there and we are sitting behind our computer writing in this blog.
Any predictions for Knock out games NED-USA and ENG- SEN?
ReplyDeleteI see referees from South America, Raparini , Valenzuela