THEnter – Torino which will be played at the San Siro stadium on Sunday 28 April, e will be directed by three women. An absolute first for Serie A, which has never seen an all-female referee team take to the field for one of its matches. Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi, Francesca Di Monte And Tiziana Trasciattiwill be the ones who will decide the fate of the match in the top division of the Italian men’s football championship.
Inter – Turin directed by three female referees
It was September 2022 when Caputi took the field to referee «the first Serie A match directed by a woman». The headlines that highlighted the upheaval of those three words, football, female referee, Serie A, placed next to each other, were wasted. Upon closer inspection, however, little has changed, because even today all of us focus our attention on that “all-female trio” promoted to referee a men’s football match.
Who is Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi
Ferrieri CaputiHowever, already has a lot of «first times» in his career, even if little is said about it. Born in Livorno in 1990, after a three-year degree in Political Science and International Relations and a master’s degree in Sociology at the University of Florence, she began working at the Adapt Foundation, a non-profit organization that conducts and supports academic research in the field of work and industrial relations. But she is also a researcher at the University of Bergamo.
Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi during a match at the Olimpico. The movement of women referees is growing (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
A great passion
However, a great passion accompanies her during her studies: that of becoming a referee. For this reason, at 17 he began the process of becoming one and entered the Aia section, the Italian Referees Association, of Livorno. About eight years later, the 15 November 2015 debuts in Serie D. But 2019 is the year of promotion to international level which will see Caputi direct two qualifying matches for theEuropean women’s championship.
First female referee in the men’s Serie A
With the subsequent promotion to Serie C, the commitment grows more and more, but the referee earns on the field, it must be said, the trust and respect of players, referees and fans. Starting from the 2022/23 season, Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi becomes the first woman to referee in the men’s Serie A football championship. On 25 March 2023, she refereed the friendly match between Germany and Peru, becoming the first woman in the history of the AIA to referee a match between senior national teams.
The two race assistants: Francesca Di Monte
As regards the two race assistants, Francesca Di Monte, assistant referee of the Chieti Section of the AIA, was born in Popoli 31 years ago. Your professional debut, in Serie C, dates back to 2013. You made your Serie A debut on 27 October 2022, in the Udinese-Verona match, in which you joined referee Marchetti. «We are working hard to reach men’s levels – he commented at the time – I tell the girls to try, because nothing is off limits». Di Monte also boasts various European and international experiences and was the first woman from Abruzzo to be part of the National Referees Commission of Serie A and Serie B.
The linesman Tiziana Trasciatti
Also there linesman Tiziana Trasciatti , who is a lawyer by profession, will participate in writing the history of gender equality in the arbitration sector. He is part of the Foligno section of the AIA and has an important career behind him with numerous international experiences. He began the journey that led her to A league in 2003 and after 19 years of apprenticeship he made his debut in November 2022 in Fiorentina – Salernitana. Over the years he has also directed matches of Women’s Champions Leagueof the qualifications for the EEuropean elections of 2025 and of Women’s Libertadores Cup in Ecuador. On several occasions she said that this was the job she wanted to do since she was a child: “Arbitrage is the best thing that happened to me in her life” she always said.
A well-established triad
The referee and the two assistants were the first ever to referee togetherin December 2022, a match of Italian professional men’s football, Frosinone-Ternana in Serie B. In January 2023, the same triad refereed a Coppa Italia match for the first time, Napoli-Cremonese. And here, finally, is the debut in Serie A.
Women referees in Italy: a slow but growing movement
With only 10% of the total number enrolled in the AIA, the precise number of women in various roles within the Italian Referees Association is 2,028, not very many yet. It must be said, however, that the movement is continually growing both quantitatively and qualitatively. The positive trend, however, also sees a strong increase in the presence of girls in National Technical Bodies and internationally.
«There is a long way to go, it’s still long – he commented Katia Senesi, meritorious referee and first woman to be part of the AIA National Committee – Among young people, there are almost more women than men. There is a lot of focus on them and not because they are women, but because they are professionally good and very well prepared».
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