All-female team of referees to make history by officiating A-League Men match | OneFootball

Six women will oversee the New Year’s Day contest between two of Australia’s best men’s football teams, marking the first time an A-League Men’s match has included not one male match official.

The clash between Western Sydney and Macarthur on Wednesday will be refereed by Casey Reibelt, while the two assistant officials, the fourth official, and the two handling VAR are also all women.

To outsiders it looks like a milestone occasion and a statement in normalising female officials in male competitions, but Reibelt said she and her colleagues won’t find it unusual.

“All six of us, we’ve worked quite a lot in the A-League already, so it’s not new for us,” she said. “We’re experienced, it’s just the first time we’ve all been together as one.”

It has become common to have two or three women officials for an A-League Men match in recent years, but the selection of this all-female panel serves as a chance to demonstrate “the strides we have made in creating inclusive pathways for officiating,” according to Jon Moss, Football Australia head of referees.

“I hope their appearance encourages young women across the country to consider their own refereeing journey and take up opportunities to become match officials,” Moss said.

Reibelt and the fourth official on Wednesday, Rebecca Durcau, were among four women in a group of 12 Australians named as FIFA international match officials for 2025 last week. Kate Jacewicz – who will handle VAR on Wednesday – became the first woman to referee an A-League Men match in 2020.

Reibelt said there has been a shift in the past four or five years towards greater involvement by women officials in men’s football competitions.

“At the end of the day we are just referees, so when we go out there, it should be merit based,” she said. “If you’re doing well, then you should be refereeing in the top leagues that are available to you.”

Stéphanie Frappart was the first woman to referee a men’s World Cup match in 2022, and Rebecca Welch did the same in the English Premier League last year.

Reibelt works part-time as a high school teacher and said, despite growing opportunities for women officials, referees needed more support particularly in balancing work and refereeing.

“That’s a challenge that I’m facing at the moment, and probably others are facing too,” she said, noting a recent grant under the federal government’s Play Our Way program has funded a much-needed national female engagement lead.

“More support for coaches and mentors who understand the unique challenges of women referees that are coming through, is going to keep improving it,” Reibelt said.

There are just four full-time referees in Australia and all are men. Part-timers like Reibelt have to juggle work with refereeing as well as overseas travel for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) matches and World Cups.

“Having a really supportive employer has helped me in balancing that. Being able to drop back to part-time was helpful, and being really open with my commitments and what I wanted to do, and how I could work with the school,” she said.

Reibelt, at age 36, is in her refereeing prime. She has ambitions for more work in AFC men’s matches and the Women’s World Cup in Brazil in 2027, which would be her third WWC tournament.

Emma Kocbek and Maddy Allum will be assistant referees on Wednesday, and Joanna Charaktis will be in the VAR assistant role.

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