Stephanie Frappart to become first female referee in Ligue 1

Stephanie Frappart is set to become the first female referee of a Ligue 1 game when Amiens host Strasbourg on Sunday.

Frappart has also been named as one of the French officials to be at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in her native country. This selection for a top-flight match was announced by the French Football Federation to prepare her for “World Cup conditions.”

It will be the second time that the 35-year-old will be at the Women’s World Cup after previously being part of the 2015 tournament in Canada.

The French-born official was also part of the Women’s European Championships in 2017,  as she oversaw England’s 3-0 semi-final defeat to host nation Netherlands. The hosts later beating Denmark to win the tournament.

This is the second time that Frappart has made history in France having become the first female to referee a Ligue 2 match back in 2014.

A statement read by the FFF read:

“FIFA has invited the federations with a chosen referee for the World Women’s Cup, to prepare them under the best conditions for this high-level competition.

“Their preparation, technical and athletic ability will also be focused on the use of video assistance, which will be in function at this World Cup.”

During the 2018-2019 campaign, the French official has overseen 13 matches in the men’s second tier. She has also been in charge of a Coupe de France tie between Olympique Strasbourg and AS Saint-Étienne.

England, Spain and Italy now remain the only three countries out of the five major European leagues not to have had a woman take charge of a top-flight match.

Back in 2017, Germany’s Bibiana Steinhaus was the first ever female to referee a men’s top flight football match out of those top nations. She took charge of a Bundesliga game between Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen.

Steinhaus most recently took charge of a men’s match on 13th of April when Bremen hosted SC Freiburg, which takes her total of top-flight matches this season to six.

Both of the history makers in their countries will be part of this year’s World Cup, with the first match of this year’s tournament being between hosts France and South Korea on the 7th of June.