A historic moment for women in soccer is set to take place at the Copa America, as female match officials will be part of the team for the first time in the tournament’s history. Leading the charge are María Victoria Penso from the United States and Edina Alves from Brazil, who have been appointed as referees. They will be supported by assistants Neuza Back of Brazil, Mary Blanco of Colombia, Migdalia Rodríguez of Venezuela, and Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt of the U.S. Additionally, Nicaragua’s Tatiana Guzmán will serve as a video review official.
This milestone represents a significant step forward in promoting equality and professionalism in women’s soccer both on and off the field. CONMEBOL, the South American soccer body, has been committed to providing more opportunities for women to participate in various tournaments as part of its efforts to promote gender equality in sport.
A total of 101 match officials will be working at the Copa America, which will be hosted by the United States starting on June 20th. In addition to this diverse group of officials from different countries coming together to oversee the tournament, Italian referee Maurizio Mariani and his compatriots Daniele Brindoni and Alberto Tegoni will also be part of the team, along with VAR officials Marco Di Bello and Alejandro Di Paolo as part of a CONMEBOL-UEFA agreement.
This inclusive and gender-balanced environment within soccer reflects ongoing efforts to create a more diverse and equitable world for all athletes.
