AFC announce first ever female match commissioner

In a statement made earlier today. the AFC have announced that South Korean Kim Se-in will become the first ever match commissioner in their history.

The news comes as female match commissioners were announced for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup. Stephanie Frappart was also named as the first female referee for a men’s major UEFA event.

Clearly, the AFC want to stay up to date and frankly, we couldn’t be happier to see it.

Full statement below:

Korea Republic’s Kim Se-in will make Asian football history by becoming the first female match commissioner to take charge of the Asian Qualifiers Round 2 game between Guam and Maldives after FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirmed her appointment.

Kim will be joined by three other female match commissioners in the Asian Qualifiers – Nguyen Thanh Ha of Vietnam, Lau Cheuk Chi of Hong Kong and AFC Executive Committee member Kanya Keomany of Laos – who were confirmed by FIFA after being nominated by the AFC.

The appointment of the female match commissioners for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Joint Qualifiers underlines the AFC’s steadfast commitment to promote women in Asian football.

AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John said: “The Asian football family is proud to have four female match commissioners appointed to manage the Asian Qualifiers. The AFC values the contribution of women in the sport and we will continue to support women in the workforce.

“The AFC encourages more women to take up the varied roles in football and we hope more will follow in the footsteps of all the women who have – and continue – to play pivotal roles in the success and development of the sport.”

It will be a proud day for the experienced Kim when she oversees the Guam and Maldives tie which will be played at the Guam FA Field on September 5 as 40 Asian countries begin their journey to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

The other female match commissioners will also play their part in future Asian Qualifier matches.

Kim, who is the Head of Public Relations for the Korea Football Association (KFA), said: “I’m surprised but also proud to be given this opportunity by FIFA and the AFC. I have experience of being a match commissioner in women’s competition, but I can expect a big difference between a men’s and women’s tournament, in terms of size and scale, so I’m excited with this opportunity. Although it is bit different but the fundamentals are still the same because it is all about football.

“In the past, there were no female match commissioners in Korea Republic, and that motivated me to be the first female match commissioner in my country. I’ve surpassed my expectations and it is great to see other women going for the match commissioner exams this year. I’m also happy to hear that some of our national players are also considering to become match commissioners after seeing how I achieved this.

“People need to believe that it doesn’t matter if you are female or male – you just need the proper talent and knowledge to be selected for a job. We must do our best and be willing to go beyond our comfort zones,” she added.

Kim has been involved in football for many years and has been a match commissioner in AFC women’s competition since 2017. She was also the team manager and head of administration for the Korea Republic women’s national teams.

She also served as a Media Officer in international competitions and in 2018 was appointed by the KFA as a general coordinator for Men’s A matches in Korea Republic.

In May, the trio of Japanese referees Yoshimi Yamashita alongside assistant referees Makoto Bozono and Naomi Teshirogi became the first all-female cast to officiate an AFC Cup match between Myanmar’s Yangon United FC and Naga World of Cambodia.

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Chelsea FC partners with Strava in landmark lifestyle partnership

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Image credit: Stock1987 / Shutterstock.com

The London-based giants announced the launch this week, marking a first-of-its-kind partnership for both the Premier League and Women’s Super League (WSL).

Connecting with fans

As clubs across the world look to find new and exciting ways of connecting with fans, Chelsea are showing that the answer – more often than not – already exists.

Strava is a running and fitness platform with over 195 million users across the globe. But the app represents more than just tracking speed – it is a social and lifestyle symbol through which users can connect.

And with presence in 185 countries, the app has the power to unite users from all over the world, making it a perfect fit for the globally-followed Blues.

“We are always looking at ways we can use our global brand to bring people together, often in unexpected ways,” said Brand Director for Chelsea Football Club, Scott Fenton.

“By working with Strava and becoming the first Premier League and BWSL teams to establish an official presence on Strava, we can lean into participation culture, understand where our fans are while offering new experiences for them and strengthen the bonds that unite our global community.”

Two brands with a huge international presence. One partnership which promises to encourage community, movement and healthy-living.

 

The intersection between sport and lifestyle

At first glance, Chelsea FC and Strava appear an unconventional partnership. Indeed, it is the first time a club has established an official presence on the app.

But at its core, the two organisations serve similar purposes: uniting people with a common passion for sport.

At its beginnings in 2009, Strava promised to replicate the feeling of team sports and unlocking new achievements, making a deal with Chelsea FC – one of the world’s most successful teams in recent years – a true full-circle moment.

“Chelsea FC joining Strava as the first Premier League and BWSL team to establish a global club on the platform is a powerful demonstration of how brands are engaging with their communities,” explained Director of Athlete and Community Partnerships at Strava, Mel Jarrett.

“We believe shared passion for movement creates real connections, and this collaboration brings that to life for Chelsea’s global fanbase.”

All Six Female Officials at the 2026 World Cup Come From Concacaf, a Shift From Qatar’s Wider Spread

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Six women are among the 170 referees, assistant referees and video assistant referees FIFA named to its 2026 World Cup officiating list in April, matching rather than exceeding the number appointed at Qatar in 2022. All six, however, come from countries within Concacaf, a change from four years ago, when the same total was drawn across five separate confederations.

Referees Tori Penso of the United States and Katia Itzel García of Mexico were joined by assistant referees Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt, both of the United States, and Mexico’s Sandra Ramírez, along with Nicaragua’s Tatiana Guzmán as video assistant referee.Penso took charge of the Group A match between Czechia and South Africa on 18 June alongside Mayo and Nesbitt, the first all-female on-field trio to officiate a men’s World Cup match, becoming only the second woman to referee at that level, after France’s Stéphanie Frappart at Qatar 2022.García refereed Netherlands against Tunisia in Kansas City on 25 June to become the third woman, and the first Mexican woman, to referee a men’s World Cup match.

By contrast, Qatar’s six women were drawn from UEFA, CAF, AFC, CONMEBOL and Concacaf: Frappart of France, Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga and Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita as referees, and Brazil’s Neuza Back, Mexico’s Karen Díaz Medina and the United States’ Kathryn Nesbitt as assistants.

A pathway built through Concacaf’s development system

FIFA Chief Refereeing Officer Pierluigi Collina described the 2026 appointments as drawn from the largest group of World Cup match officials in the tournament’s history, the product of three years of monitoring, seminars and assessment, with selection based, in his words, on officials being “the very best in the world.”

Penso’s own record illustrates how that system has worked for Concacaf officials specifically. She joined the FIFA international panel in 2021, the same year she became the first woman to lead an all-female team in a men’s competition organised by Concacaf, refereeing a World Cup qualifier.She had already become the first woman in two decades to referee a regular-season Major League Soccer match, in 2020, and went on to take charge of the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, the first World Cup final overseen by an American referee.García’s path ran through Liga MX, where she became the first woman in more than 20 years to referee a men’s match in March 2024.

Australia’s own contingent at the tournament, referee Alireza Faghani and assistant referees Andrew Lindsay and George Lakrindis, along with video match official Shaun Evans, does not include a woman among its four officials,positioning the current pipeline into men’s World Cup officiating as one running through a narrower set of confederations than the sport’s broader referee development system overall.

Research on performance shows a mixed but instructive picture

The appointments sit alongside a growing body of research testing assumptions about female officials in men’s football. A study in the Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, examining five seasons of the Maurice Revello Tournament, found female referees were not weaker than their male counterparts in adjudicating men’s matches.Separate research by Atılgan and Tükel, cited in a 2025 study of fan perceptions of referees, found women outperformed men specifically at the decision-making stage, with men showing greater hesitation and avoidance.

Findings on physical output are less uniform. A systematic review of physical demands in high-level matches found male and female referees covered broadly comparable ground, averaging 10.5 and 9.9 kilometres respectively, with similar volumes of high-intensity running.A separate comparison of Spanish first and second division referees found male officials produced higher peak-intensity output than female referees across the shortest, most demanding windows of match play, a gap researchers linked to aerobic capacity and flagged as requiring further study at international level specifically.Academic research published this year estimates women still make up roughly one in ten of the world’s accredited match officials across all levels of the game.

FIFA’s next major appointment cycle for women’s officiating is already under way, with match officials named this year for the 2026 FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cups as part of preparations for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

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