Stephanie Frappart will referee the European Championship final between England and Spain at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland later today.
The Lionesses, who have twice battled their way through extra-time to secure their spot in the final two, hunt revenge on Spain, who they were defeated 1-o by in the World Cup final two years ago.
Frappart takes the whistle Sunday as a referee with the experience to match the magnitude of the tournament’s showcase event.
The Frenchwoman, who took charge of the 2019 Women’s World Cup final, has been an international official since 2011, refereeing 111 matches within UEFA competitions and plenty more outside of the European governing body’s jurisdiction.
“I’m very pleased to have been selected to referee the Women’s Euro final. It’s a big honour and a proud moment at the end of a wonderful tournament,” Frappart said, ahead of adding another high-profile clash to her resume.
The 41-year-old’s officiating journey began at the age of 13, taking charge of small-sided children’s matches.
Frappart played football too. She told The Athletic in November 2022 that she decided to step away from playing the sport, and made the decision at a time when “women’s football was not particularly developed”. She did not expect the immense success that would follow in her officiating career.
“I had no plans to be the first female referee at the World Cup, or anything like that,” Frappart said.
In 2011, Frappart became the first female referee to manage men’s matches in France’s third tier. Three years later, she was the first woman to take charge of a Ligue 2 match.
In April 2019, Frappart was appointed as referee for Amiens’ match against Strasbourg in Ligue 1, in a first not only for France — neither La Liga nor the Premier League had yet had a woman take charge of a match. Frappart’s emergence sparked widespread attention, and later that year, she was the face of another historic feat, leading an all-women’s team to officiate the UEFA Super Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea.
Frappart with assistant referees Manuela Nicolosi and Michelle O’Neill ahead of the 2019 Super Cup (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Frappart’s strides into men’s competitions continued, refereeing a Champions League group stage match in December 2020, a World Cup qualifier between Latvia and the Netherlands a year later, and then the Coupe de France final between Nantes and Nice. Then, in another milestone, she received the call-up to become the first woman to referee a men’s World Cup match in Qatar in 2022.
Frappart led an all-women’s team, including Neuza Back and Karen Diaz, for Germany’s 4-2 victory over Costa Rica in the group stage, a free-flowing tie with just one yellow card, 12 fouls given, and one of the more entertaining outcomes in that stage of the competition.
“The men’s and women’s games are exactly the same,” Frappart said in the 2022 interview. “Women’s football is getting faster and faster. It’s only the tactical approach that is different. But that’s just like how there’s different styles of play between Europe, Africa and South America. When you’re refereeing national teams, the only difference is that the level is higher, because they’re the best players in the country.”
Her ventures have not been without challenge. In May 2024, Frappart had to be escorted off the pitch after the Greek Cup final she refereed between Panathinaikos and Aris. Frappart had issued three red cards in the match, including two for losing side Aris, who displayed an intense show of anger towards the referee after Georgios Vagiannidis scored the game’s only goal seven minutes into stoppage time.
Frappart is already acclimatised to the frenetic nature of this year’s Euros in Switzerland. Significant decisions have been at the centre of almost all matches. She awarded a penalty to Norway in what could have been a crucial moment in their quarter-final against Italy, had Ada Hegerberg not spurned it, before Cristiana Girelli scored her second goal to take a late 2-1 win. Frappart also took charge of two group stage matches this summer.
Upon her appointment for the final, UEFA refereeing director Roberto Rosetti praised Frappart’s career thus far: “Stephanie Frappart deserves this appointment as she is a role model for the young generation of female referees due to her professionalism and attitude on and off the pitch.”
(Top photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
