After five years of being considered the best women’s referee, Stéphanie Frappart must settle for second place in 2024, ahead of the Englishwoman Rebecca Welch.
French arbitration is in the spotlight at the end of the year. At Christmas, François Letexier was named the best male referee in the world for 2024 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). A reward which earned the Breton referee the congratulations of Philippe Diallo, the president of the French Football Federation.
“This distinction concludes a particularly successful year 2024 for François Letexier, including refereeing the final of the European Championship, that of the final of the Coupe de France, participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and a ranking of ‘number 1 referee in France’underlined the boss of the 3F, taking care to add: “This title is also a form of international recognition of the quality of François Letexier’s refereeing, and more generally that of the FFF. »
“A season less successful than the previous ones”
Behind the Slovenian Slavko Vincic and the Italian Daniele Orsato, who complete the podium, Clément Turpin ranks fourth. Among the women, however, Stéphanie Frappart saw her reign over women’s refereeing come to an end. After five years of being named best female referee, this year the Francilienne had to settle for second place, ahead of the Englishwoman Rebecca Welch.
The five-time defending champion narrowly lost as the Briton, who was on the whistle for the Women’s Champions League final last spring between FC Barcelona and OL, beat her by 14 points with 118 points. against 104 for the Habs.
This second place will not surprise Éric Borghini, president of the federal referees commission, at the FFF. “I can simply say that Stéphanie Frappart seems to be having a slightly less successful season than the previous ones”he confided when the young woman had not been selected by UEFA to officiate during the European Championship unlike the 2021 edition.
