Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita will become the first woman referee to officiate a men’s AFC Asian Cup match on Saturday when she takes charge of the Group B game between Australia and India, the Asian Football Confederation said on Thursday.
It is the latest feather in the cap of pioneering Yamashita, who is one of five trailblazing women match officials to be involved in this Asian Cup.
She will be supported in the Group B encounter by assistant referees and compatriots Makoto Bozono and Naomi Teshirogi.
The tournament begins on Friday with hosts and defending champions Qatar taking on Lebanon at the Lusail Stadium.
With China backing out of hosting the 2023 edition due to its ‘zero-Covid’ policy, Qatar — who have hosted the Asian Cup twice before in 1988 and 2011 — took the opportunity with both hands to bring the tournament back to west Asia once again.
In 2022, Qatar had successfully hosted the Fifa World Cup.
With inputs from Reuters
