Female referees to take charge of matches at men's World Cup in Qatar 

It will be the first time females will be officiating at a men's World Cup.

Match referee Stephanie Frappart

For the first time in the tournament's history, female referees will officiate matches in this year's men's World Cup.

Three female referees have been announced on the roster for Qatar: France's Stephanie Frappart, Rwanda's Salima Mukansanga and Japan's Yoshimi Yamashita.

The competition will feature 36 referees, 69 assistant referees, and 24 video match officials.

"As always, the criteria we have used is 'quality first' and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide," said the chairman of Fifa's referees committee Pierluigi Collina.

"This concludes a long process that began several years ago with the deployment of female referees at Fifa men's junior and senior tournaments.

"In this way, we clearly emphasise it is quality that counts for us and not gender.

"I would hope that in the future, the selection of elite women's match officials for important men's competitions will be perceived as something normal and no longer as sensational."