The long march of women in the name of equal opportunities has put on the agenda an appointment that will inevitably mark a historic turning point. Serie A is ready for the first female referee. This is Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi, 32, from Livorno, graduated in Sociology, works in Bergamo, in an employment law study center. In August – when the championship starts – she will be enrolled in the group of referees, “for merit and not for privilege”, as underlined by the president of the AIA-Associazione Arbitri Italiani-Alfredo Trentalange.
Ferrieri Caputi began refereeing very young, just seventeen, in the province of Livorno: clay courts, fans half a meter from the sideline, the shadow of prejudice accompanying her at every whistle, hers and those of those who attended the matches. She never broke down. She made her debut in Serie D at the age of 25; she at 30 she was promoted to Serie C, at 31 he directed his first match in Serie B: one step at a time, demonstrating more and more personality, charisma and confidence. In December 2021 she became the first woman to referee an Italian Cup match with a Serie A team – Cagliari, which on the occasion challenged Cittadella – on the field: 3 yellow cards, 3 goals disallowed – with the help of the Var – and always credible arbitrage, so much so that it made the AIA top management declare: “We are proud of her, she will lead the way.”
Here we are, then. In recent years, female referees (even Ferrieri Caputi prefers the masculine noun) have gained ground in a field – such as football – the prerogative of often male-dominated males, almost always refractory to novelty. The French Stéphanie Frappart – international referee since 2019 – she is the model of the many girls who approach the profession. She was the first woman to referee a men’s football match (in Ligue2, 2014), the first to direct a UEFA Super Cup final (2019, Liverpool vs Chelsea), the first to referee in the Champions League (2020, Juventus vs Dinami) Kiev), the first to be chosen for a European Championship (2020, as fourth official).
The latest record is recent history: together with the Rwandan Salima Mukansanga and Japanese Yoshimi YamashitaFrappart has been included in the list of 36 referees who will take the field in Qatar at the World Cup which will take place between November and December.
Today there are about 1,700 women arbitrating in Italy, just over 6% of the total members of the AIA. When we talk about them we always use the usual expressions – “Application, commitment, passion” – which basically are those of those who – back in 1979 – recorded the first female refereeing. But there is something more. There is a very long way. The signature of that great little revolution was that of Maria Grazia Pinna, arbiter of Sardinian origins, but raised in Tuscany.
He was 36 years old and with an authoritarian attitude that frightened the players of that match, played between two teams from the province of Florence, Colonnata and Fiorenza. To many – in a sport that men considered their exclusive right – that first whistle sounded like the useless attempt of women to invade a territory that was not theirs; the few who had the clarity to grasp its importance today have been rewarded: from Maria Grazia Pinna to Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi, there is a common thread that unites two stories and the same idea of ​​the worldthe one where there are equal rights and equal opportunities.
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Source: Vanity Fair
