Ladies Affair: All-female ref team for England vs Andora clash

 

An all-female refereeing team will take charge of England’s World Cup Qualifier in Andorra on Saturday.

Kateryna Monzul has been named as the referee, along with fellow Ukrainian assistant referees Maryna Striletska and Svitlana Grushko.

The VAR is Stephanie Frappart of France, however the fourth official and assistant VAR are both male Denys Shurman and Viktor Matyash respectively.

The historic moment marks the first time a senior England men’s game has been refereed by a woman.

Monzul has taken charge of a senior men’s international before, however, having been part of the first all-female refereeing team to officiate when San Marino faced Gibraltar in the Nations League in November 2020.

She also has experience at Women’s World Cups and European Championships and is a referee in the Ukrainian Premier League.

Frappart has officiated in the men’s Champions League and also taken charge of a men’s World Cup Qualifier, becoming one of the sport’s female officiating trailblazers in the process.

The appointments come in the same year that Rebecca Welch became the first female referee appointed to take charge of an EFL game, Harrogate’s 2-0 home defeat to Port Vale in April.

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Meanwhile, England are preparing to face minnows Andorra having collected 16 points from a possible 18 in Group I, including a 4-0 win over their weekend opponents during the last international break in September.

Gareth Southgate’s side then welcome Hungary to Wembley on October 12, as they look to take further steps towards qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.