Female referee Frappart blazes trail
In the highest-profile men’s game yet for a female referee, Stephanie Frappart made it look like any other.
A month after she oversaw the Women’s World Cup final, the French match official dealt with everything in yesterday’s Super Cup game between Liverpool and Chelsea – star players’ tantrums, football’s tangled handball rule and the physical test of extra time.
For the Super Cup, Frappart was accompanied by assistants Manuela Nicolosi, of France, and Michelle O’Neal, of Ireland, reuniting the team which officiated the United States’ win over the Netherlands in the Women’s World Cup decider last month.
Such was Frappart’s control, her milestone presence was hardly felt in Istanbul.
In only the sixth minute she made the crucial call not to award Liverpool a penalty when Sadio Mane’s scissor-kick shot hit Andreas Christensen’s arm.
The thorny issue of exactly what constitutes an ‘‘unnatural’’ arm position has been much discussed lately, not least when Liverpool won a penalty against Tottenham’s Moussa Sissoko in similar circumstances in the Champions League final, but the video assistant referee system didn’t review Frappart’s call.
Frappart had few problems keeping pace with the world’s top male players – a concern sometimes voiced by critics of female referees – and was quietly authoritative. She kept Chelsea’s players under control when the Blues twice had goals ruled out for offside on the way to a penalty shootout loss to Liverpool.