The first female referee to take part in the European Championship: Who is Stephanie Frappart?

Most of the sources say that Stephanie Frappart, who was born in Plessis-Bouchar on December 14, 1983, is a very successful referee with many firsts to date, consisting of a few pictures and a two-three-paragraph introductory text. I didn't give up on pursuing Frappart's story by adding French sources to English sources, and I found some of the clues I was looking for in Le Parisien and CNN Sports.

I learned that the French referee, who shattered glass ceilings while climbing the career ladder, became the first female referee to work in Ligue 2 in 2014 and 5 years later, she achieved a first by being promoted to Ligue 1. After its successful performance in the French leagues, Frappart's peak moment was the Super Cup match played between Chelsea and Liverpool in Istanbul in 2019.

Stéphanie Frappart (born 14 December 1983) is a French football referee. She has been on the FIFA International Referees List since 2009. Frappart became the first woman to referee a major men's European match and a French Ligue 1 match, both in 2019, and the first woman to officiate a UEFA Champions League match in 2020.

Frappart, who managed the Men's European Super Cup final, attracted a lot of media attention in those days. Saying that it was both a privilege, a great honor, and a responsibility in those days, Frappart stated that she hoped that this stage of her career would encourage young girls to take up the referee profession. Media attention focused on Frappart's being a woman rather than her success.

The subtext of many of the praises directed at her was astonishment that a woman was in this position. The questions asked to Frappart before the match were quite striking as they showed that patriarchy is the dominant language in the media. For example, a referee who had officiated dozens of matches in her career and successfully handled all of them was asked whether she was afraid before the match.

Stating that she was not afraid with all her composure, Frappart stated that they were training constantly and that they were ready; she said: "We need to prove that we are the same as the men physically, technically and tactically, because for me this match is no different from the others."

Stephanie Frappart, who managed to come out of the 2019 European Super Cup match with flying colors, was very proud and was at the center of praise from both Lampard and Klopp at the end of the match. Saying that if we had done our job as successfully as she did, we would have won the match 6-0, Liverpool coach Klopp emphasized how successfully Frappart did this job rather than her sexual identity.

In the face of all this, Frappart was repeating in front of the microphones that this was normal, saying that she was just doing her job and not going out on the field to make history. On the other hand, there was more exaggerated praise in the media, as if she had accomplished an extraordinary job, and the tabloid side of the work was mostly covered.

Just as a doctor is appreciated equally when she does her job, regardless of whether she is a man or a woman, perhaps what Frappart wanted was to be looked at in this way. Because discriminatory and alienating discourses had become so insidiously embedded in the language that they could show themselves even when you were praising someone.

Stephanie Frappart, who became more and more popular after the match in Istanbul, months later, first in the Leicester - Zorya match in the Europa League; Then, she would prove her skills once again by blowing the whistle in the Champions League match between Juventus and Dynamo Kiev.

On the other hand, the media, especially the Italian press, would focus on a woman officiating a Champions League match rather than a successful referee taking charge for the first time, and the event would be embellished with sensational words such as "historic" and "revolutionary". In the news in Corriere della Sera, Frappart addressed girls and advised them to dream with great ambition.

Vincenzo Spadafora, the Italian Minister of Sports at the time, underlined the inequality between genders with her words regarding Frappart's performance and stated that Frappart's success in this task was a step in sports to overcome gender inequality and stereotypes.

The real good news for Frappart, which also successfully passed the Champions League exam, would come in the spring. Frappart, who was elected to the referee committee of the European Football Championship, will be the first in the history of the tournament even with this appointment, although she will serve as the fourth referee and reserve referee in the tournament. Frappart, who made her first assignment in the Italy-Türkiye match, which was also the opening match of the tournament, served as Danny Makkelie's assistant.

Explaining her biggest dream of having a female referee officiate the men's World Cup final without any distinction between male and female referees, Frappart undoubtedly aims to be a first in that arena when she says "Everything is possible now". I would like to think that when that day comes, seeing absolute equality achieved not only in football but in all fields is a common dream not only for Frappart but for all of us.

I hope that one day, all people who do their job very successfully, like Stephanie Frappart, will be respected, regardless of their sexual identity...