AFC honors first female referee in Asian Cup history

AFC announced on its website: “This is the latest highlight in the great career of pioneer Yoshimi Yamashita. She will be one of the first five female referees to participate in the prestigious Asian Cup tournament, which will take place this year in Qatar.

She will be assisted by assistants Makoto Bozono and Naomi Teshirogi - a trio of referees considered symbols of Japan. They have made history as the first female referees to oversee matches in the AFC Cup (2019), AFC Champions League (2022) and J-League (2023)."

Yoshimi Yamashita is the first female referee at the Asian Cup.

Yoshimi Yamashita was born in 1986 and spent many years studying at Tokyo Gakugei University - one of the prestigious schools in Japan. She was recognized as a FIFA referee in 2015 and since then, Yoshimi Yamashita has overcome many barriers, becoming an idol for many young people in Japan. Before taking on the men's tournaments, Yoshimi Yamashita also has experience in officiating matches at the AFC Women's Asian Cup (2018 and 2022) and the Tokyo Olympics (2020).

In September 2022, the referee from Tokyo became the first female referee to officiate a match in J-League 1. Then, Ms. Yoshimi Yamashita was trusted by FIFA, becoming one of the first 6 female referees in history, officiated matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

At the 2023 Women's World Cup, Ms. Yoshimi Yamashita will be the main referee, officiating the opening match between New Zealand and Norway. This will be her second time officiating at the Women's World Cup, after the 2019 World Cup held in France.

The trio of referees (from left to right): Naomi Teshirogi, Yoshimi Yamashita, Makoto Bozono have worked together in many major tournaments.

Also on the evening of January 11, AFC delighted Vietnamese fans by posting a short video titled “The Golden Star Warriors are ready for the Asian Cup”. Within an hour, the post became the hottest content of the day on the AFC Facebook page with over 15,000 views and over 2,500 likes.

The post about the Vietnam team on the AFC Facebook page received a lot of interest.

Quang Hai was chosen as the opening character with statistics of 42 matches, 10 goals. Center back Nguyen Thanh Binh with his first participation in the Asian Cup was chosen as the most worth-watching star. In addition, coach Philippe Troussier also appeared proudly next to My Dinh stadium, with the image of a conical hat and lotus flowers.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/afc-vinh-danh-nu-trong-tai-dau-tien-trong-lich-su-asian-cup-185240111204532585.htm