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Frappart to Make World Cup History as First Woman Referee

Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group H - Portugal v Ghana - Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar - November 24, 2022 Fourth official Stéphanie Frappart before the match. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group H - Portugal v Ghana - Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar - November 24, 2022 Fourth official Stéphanie Frappart before the match. (Reuters)
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Frappart to Make World Cup History as First Woman Referee

Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group H - Portugal v Ghana - Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar - November 24, 2022 Fourth official Stéphanie Frappart before the match. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group H - Portugal v Ghana - Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar - November 24, 2022 Fourth official Stéphanie Frappart before the match. (Reuters)

French referee Stéphanie Frappart will become the first woman to take charge of a men’s World Cup game when she handles Germany vs. Costa Rica on Thursday in Qatar.

FIFA also picked two women as assistants to Frappart — Neuza Back of Brazil and Mexico’s Karen Diaz Medina — to complete an all-female refereeing team on the field.

The fourth woman match official FIFA picked for this World Cup, Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States, will also be working at the Al Bayt Stadium as the offside specialist in the video review team.

FIFA made the historic appointments for the 44th of the 64 games being played in Qatar.

Frappart previously was picked for fourth official duties.

The 38-year-old Frenchwoman has been promoted in the men’s game by European soccer body UEFA and in her home country.

She was refereed men’s games in World Cup qualifying and the Champions League, and this year’s men’s French Cup final. She also took charge of the 2019 Women’s World Cup final for FIFA.

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South Korea Expresses Regret after Its Athletes Introduced as North Korea at Opening Ceremony

Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
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South Korea Expresses Regret after Its Athletes Introduced as North Korea at Opening Ceremony

Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)

South Korea expressed regret that its delegation of athletes at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday was introduced as from rival North Korea and has demanded assurances from organizers the mistake will not happen again.

As the boat carrying South Korean athletes passed on the Seine, the announcer introduced them as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" - the official name of North Korea - in French and English.

The announcer used the same introduction when the North Korean delegation passed.

South Korea's vice minister for sports and culture, Jang Mi-ran, who was in Paris, had requested a meeting with International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach, the ministry said in a statement.

"We express regret that the country was introduced as North Korea at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games when the athletes of the Republic of Korea were entering," it said.

South Korea's National Olympic Committee immediately referred the incident to the Games' organizers and requested that the error will not be repeated.

South Korea's delegation includes 143 athletes competing in 21 events. North Korea, which is returning to the Games for the first time since Rio 2016, has sent 16 athletes.