A French top-flight match will be refereed by a female official for the first time when Stéphanie Frappart takes charge of Amiens’ Ligue 1 home match against Strasbourg on Sunday.
Frappart, who will officiate at her second Women’s World Cup in France this summer, has been picked by the French Football Federation to prepare her for “World Cup conditions”.
The German referee Bibiana Steinhaus has taken charge of Bundesliga matches but no woman has refereed a top-tier match in England, Spain or Italy.
The 35-year-old Frappart first refereed a Ligue 2 match in 2014 and has overseen 13 matches in the men’s second tier this season as well as one French Cup tie. She took charge of England’s semi-final defeat by the Netherlands in the 2017 Women’s European Championship.
“Fifa has invited the federations with a chosen referee for the World Women’s Cup, to prepare them under the best conditions for this high-level competition,” an FFF statement said.
“Their preparation, technical and athletic [ability] will also be focused on the use of video assistance, which will be in function at this World Cup.”
The World Cup begins on 7 June, when the hosts, France, take on South Korea.
