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More Women Qualify for FIFA's
List of Accredited Referees
by Rainer Hennies
This year FIFA's list of qualified international referees includes more women from more different countries than ever before. These women range from 24 to 41 years of age. By country, the women who have achieved the highest level in officiating soccer are:
Austria: Maria Trampusch
Benin: Babatchene Maman
Brazil: Ivani Gregori, Claudia Vasconcelos Guedes, Maria Echilene Siquera, Sueli Teresina Tortura
Bulgaria: Galina Doneva
Canada: Sonia Denoncourt
Central African Rep: Jeanette Imiudi, Andree Yakpela
Chad: Tokino Esther Nodjigoto
China: Yuzhen Sun, Xiudi Zuo
Columbia: Martha Liliana Toro Pardo
Costa Rica: Ave Maria Alpizar Jiminez
Denmark: Bente Folsing, Gitte Lyngo-Nielsen
Equatorial Guinea: Epifania Bico Etung
Finland: Katariina Elovirta
France: Florence Dorigny
Germany: Christine Frai, Elke Guenthner
Ghana: Scholastica Christiana Tetteh, Benedicta Wormade
Italy: Tiziana Calamosca, Christina Gozzi
Korea DPR: Hong-Sil Ri
Korea Rep: Eun Ju LimMadagascar: Justine Rasoanirina
Mexico: Maria del Rosar Herrera Garcia
Netherlands: Regina Belksma-Koning, Gea Mulder
New Zealand: Linda May Black
Nigeria: Bola Elisabeth Abidoye, Faith Uwugiaren Irabor, Bolanie Celina Sekiteri
Norway: Vibeke Gabrielsen, Bente Skogvang
Poland: Iwona Malek-Wybraniec
Romania: Maria Patrascu
Senegal: Fatou Gaye
Spain: Maria Jose Alcantara Negrin
Sweden: Ingrid Jonsson, Marianne Mattsson, Eva Oedlund
Switzerland: Nicole Mouidi-Petignant
Trinidad & Tobago: Cassie Moore
Turkey: Lale Orta
Uganda: Catherine Adipo Wejuli
USA: Janice Gettemeyer
Venezuela: Marisela Contreras de Fuentes
Zambia: Liseli Mukwena
Zimbabwe: Sabelo Sibindi
SONIA DENONCOURT IN BRAZIL
Most of the media including soccer newspapers recently carried the report put out by Reuters etc. Although not credited in some publications the source is obvious since the wording of each one is identical.
I asked our correspondent Jorge Antonio Morais Silveira for his impressions of the game and officiating. Here is his report:
February 8th. marked the opening of Sao Paulo men's soccer championship season. The inaugural game was held in Sao Jose dos Campos, a city located about 120 miles from the capital city. The game was proof that the Sao Paulo soccer Federation is determined to bring women and girls closer to soccer, either as spectators or players.
The 22,000 spectators crowded into Martins Pereira Stadium enjoyed a great samba show before the game, and welcomed the presence of the three women who had total responsibility for the game. They were FIFA Referee Sonia Denoncourt, and her assistants Claudia V. Guedes, and Maria Edilene Siqueira.
The game had many good moments and resulted in a draw: Palmeiras 1 Sao Jose 1.
Reviewing the media coverage after the game showed that the average opinion was that the presence of women referees controlling a men's championship match had been positive. They felt that any mistakes made could have been made by men referees.
Miss Sonia Denoncourt was not always able to get a close look at everything on the field so some of our "smart" boys took the opportunity to apply their tricks by making believe a series of fouls.
In front of a large audience on a TV program the question was asked " Is it right for a woman to act as referee in such an important game?."
1850 people answered yes, and 1560 said no.
In Sao Paulo's soccer scene women's soccer is developing steadily.
GOLD MEDAL
REFEREE
An Interview with Bente Skogvang
By Thorsten Frennstedt
WSW's correspondent, Thorsten Frennstedt, interviewed Bente
Skogvang, the referee who officiated the Gold Medal game in the
1996 Olympics in Athens, Georgia.
WSW: Have you always lived in Norway?
BS: Yes, I was born in the northern part of the country and have
lived here ever since, except for one year spent in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
WSW: You are a Ph.D. student of Professor Kari Fasting in
Oslo. What is the focus of your studies?
BS: I am studying the culture of Norwegian soccer at the top level
and the consequences on Norway´s women players.
WSW: What do you plan to do after you finish your degree?
BS: To work in the field of sports education at one of Norway´s
universities or institutes of sports.
WSW: Why did you become a referee?
BS: I had a knee injury and could not play for a long time, and
found that I really missed soccer. Not just the actual sport but
the whole atmosphere surrounding the game. I had already played
at the second level and realized that I could reach the top level,
but trying to reach the top as a referee seemed to be a real challenge
since it was a rarity to see a woman in that position. I am just
starting my 18th season of refereeing, including men's games at
the second and third level in Norway.
WSW: Do you play other sports?
BS: Like most Norwegians I am a cross country skier, and I play
team handball - another sport where the Norwegian Women's National
Team ranks amongst the best in the world.
WSW: Do you think that the international women´s soccer
game has changed?
BS: The framework of organization and economic support has grown.
Soccer is the top female sport in Norway today. The international
opportunities available have increased. For several years now
some of Norway´s best players have spent the winter with
Japanese professional clubs.
WSW: When did you know that you would referee the final
game in Athens, and were you concerned that as a Norwegian you
were about to referee a game of a team that had just beaten Norway?
BS: I was told two days before it was played, and as a referee
you forget your nationality. I was representing FIFA, not my country
or myself. My concern was for that giant mass of spectators in
Sanford Stadium. I told myself that what really matters is what
is going on in the game - all the time. There was not much discussion,
but we made very intense analyses of every previous game to see
if there had been any serious mistakes made and to bring up ideas
useful to all of us when handling certain situations.
The decision that I should get the honor to
lead the final was taken by the FIFA referee committee.
WSW: Did you enjoy the Olympics?
BS: It was a fantastic experience all the time.
WSW: Did you get a chance to see other parts of the USA
and had you been there before?
BS: It was my first time. I was in Miami, Orlando, Athens and
Atlanta.
WSW: Impressions of the Southern States?
BS: It was hot! I will never forget the heat. The people who took
care of the referees were very professional, positive and friendly.
I would have liked to have discovered a little more about the
environments where we stayed but it was not easy. At home you
can always go about by city buses but in the USA everybody seems
to need a car.
WSW: What are your thoughts now that you have had time to
review the Olympics?
BS: It was the greatest experience of my life. It was such an
honour to be the top referee in an Olympic final. It meant a lot
of attention at home in Norway. People had watched me on television.
I like to believe that I helped to raise the reputation and appearance
of women referees around the world.
The Olympics was a milestone in the history of women's soccer.
Even those great nations who had not previously contributed to
their women´s soccer programs realized the need for putting
resources and support for women's soccer when it became a medal
sport in the USA 1996 Olympics.
It also expanded media exposure which is very
essential for women's soccer.
© WSW May/June 1997
Sweden's Women Referees
By Maria Persson
In Sweden women's soccer is a big sport, second only to men's soccer. There is a well organized league system, with one Premier League made up of 12 teams from the whole country. There are three First Divisions and 24 Second Divisions divided by geographic region and administered by the Swedish Soccer Federation. In the districts there are Divisions 3 and 4, and even 5 in the biggest cities.
Sweden also has women referees, with about 2,000 in the whole country. They are trained in five steps. In the first two, they participate in local courses together with the men referees. After the first course they can officiate the lowest divisions, and after a second they can referee Division 3.
The third step is a five-day course completed together with other women referees from the entire country. This course is held at the same time as a district tournament for all the districts in Sweden, each district entering one team made up of their best 16-year-old girl players. After completion of this course, officiating at Division 2 level is permitted but not guaranteed even for those who pass the course.
The fourth step is for women referees only, and entails taking part in the Gothia Cup which is one of the biggest youth tournaments in the world. Boys' and girls' teams for ages 8-18 from around the world compete in this tournament. After this course, one can be proposed to become an Elite Woman Referee.
Usually it takes one to three years at every level before one can become an Elite Woman Referee. Before climbing to a higher level, each candidate officiates one or two test matches with an instructor rating whether she is experienced enough to move to a higher classification for the next season.
Each year all the referees in Sweden also take an obligatory one to two day course before the season starts, to maintain their referee's license in the districts. Men and women of the same level train together, except for Elite Women Referees, whose compulsory annual training is completed in a group with other Elite Women Referees.
There is also a fifth component of training which must be completed before one can be proposed to become an international FIFA referee or FIFA assistant referee. This course does not take place automatically each year, but only when it is needed.
Elite Women Referees officiate for Division 1 and the Premier League. Currently there are 18 referees in this group, three of which are also FIFA referees and four are FIFA assistant referees. This means that Sweden is one of the countries best represented on FIFA's lists of women referees. Most of the women referees are also officiating men's games. The highest level in men's soccer where women are officiating is Division 3 as referee and Division 1 as assistant referee.
Male referees have the same training as the females. Of course there are many more males, and thus much more competition to become an elite referee. They have one more step, a fifth level, before they can be proposed as an elite referee. Elite Men Referee's have the same annual courses as the women, one in the spring before the season and one in October-November to sum up the season and evaluate their performances. We don't have the courses together with the men, but we have the same tests. One test is about the rules of the game given in the spring, and we have to score 17 of 20 to pass. There is a physical test, the "Cooper Test," in the spring plus one in May and one in August. It consists of 50 metres, 200 metres, and at least 2500 metres in 12 minutes for the women top league referees. The men have to run 2800 metres, and they also have less time in the sprint distances.
There are about 40 Elite Men Referees who perform only in the men's Premier and Division 1 Leagues, with no games in the lower divisions or women's leagues. We don't have enough Elite Women Referees to take all the matches in the Women's Premier League, and certainly not in the First Divisions, so there are men as well officiating in those leagues. They are often young men who relate well to women's soccer. Usually they are performing in the men's Third, Fourth or even Fifth Division, and in the women's First Division.
Elite Women Referees are not forbidden to referee higher divisions than they do. But we think it's important to walk slowly forward, so we are really well prepared the day we move higher in the system. We think that then we will compete with the men referees, and have to be as good as those in the higher divisions. We shall not referee in the top leagues for men just because we are Elite Referees, but because we are good enough.
A problem today is that maybe the Swedish Premier League for women isn't tough enough for the top referees when preparing for international matches. International soccer is so much tougher, faster and better than the Swedish women's league soccer, that we will have to referee more men's matches to be better prepared for the international arena. Maybe in the future Elite Women Referees in Sweden will officiate higher divisions in the men's leagues. We don't want to force the evolution but instead to take one step at a time.
Elite Women Referees have their own organization, Sveriges Elitdamdomare (Swedish Elite Women Referees), which includes all active elite referees as well as inactive members who are now retired or opt to officiate at lower levels. The purpose of the organization is to work for women referees as a whole, but especially at the elite level. The group tries to ensure that the teams and the Swedish Soccer Federation have an understanding about their work, and also strive to improve working conditions for the group in terms of travel, payment, equipment, etc.
The board of the organization is made up only of active Elite Referees, which makes it tough to achieve much. In addition to working to make a living, these board members also must officiate their own matches, train to stay fit, and often participate actively in the district and local referee committees, leaving little time for board work.
Swedish referees have been very successful in the international arena during the last five years. In the first Women's World Championship 1991 in China, one of the five women linespersons was Ingrid Jonsson, a Swedish referee who served as lineswoman in the final. As it was the first Women's World Championship, no women participated as head referees. In 1995, in the second World Championship, Sweden was the only country to have two referees participating, Ingrid Jonsson and Eva Odlund.
In the 1996 Olympic Games, Ingrid Jonsson again represented Sweden, and refereed the bronze match. This summer the European championship took place in Sweden and Norway, with all matches officiated by women referees and assistant referees. Sweden was represented by one referee, Eva Odlund and one assistant referee, Susanne Borg.
In the ten years since Sveriges Elitdamdomare was organized, women referees have become much better through an effective national training system, and have become much more respected in all parts of the soccer world - with players, male referees, the national federation and the media. Still there remains much to do to attain parity with the male referees, especially in being given the same support and conditions they receive thus enabling women referees to perform equally well. So we work on, each year taking one or a couple of small steps forward. Our hope is that in the near future, all the matches in the Women's Premier League can have women referees.
Maria Persson, an Elite Woman Referee, currently chairs the board of Sveriges Elitdamdomare.
The official address for Sveriges Elitdamdomare is:
Sveriges Elitdamdomare email: damdomar@hem.passagen.se
c/o Anna Jansson http://hem.passagen.se/damdomar/
Bodingvagen 22 (They have their own Web page)
862 32 KVISSLEBY
Sweden© WSW September/October 1997
