Israeli Premier League referee to begin transitioning

Sagi Berman, a referee in Israel’s Premier League, will change her name to Sapir, with the local FA's support. She intends to continue refereeing in the country's top tier after announcing her transitioning.

A top-level referee has started the process of gender transitioning.

Sagi Berman, 26, will change her name to Sapir and start being addressed with female pronouns.

"I lived with a very masculine identity and I was successful at it, be it as a referee, in my studies or with women. But at the end of the day, I felt like a woman," Berman explained at a press conference on Tuesday.

Speaking about the reason for coming out, Berman says she felt “strangled” for a while, before telling her loved ones about her decision last October, after she “couldn’t take it anymore.”

'It worried me'

Yariv Teper, the CEO of the Israeli Referees' Association, said it was clear Sapir — then Sagi — was going through something.

"When I saw her in the time before coming out, I was worried as I suspected she might be suffering from depression or even had suicidal thoughts,” he recalled. “Once she told me what it was about, I felt relieved and told her we’ll support her all the way.”

According to Israeli outlet Sport 5, Berman has already been receiving a separate dressing room from the rest of the match-day officials, who already address her with female pronouns. While not knowing how long the process would take, Berman said she’s determined to go through with it to "feel at peace with my outside self."

Football, too, played a role in her decision to come out.

“Football being such a masculine sport delayed my decision a bit. I didn’t know how it would be received,” recalls Berman. "In the end, however, the reactions were mostly positive."

"I receive lots of love on social media, be it from people wishing me all the best or people who see me as an ambassador. They