ARLINGTON, Texas — Copa America is the oldest international soccer tournament in the world.
The inaugural tournament was held in 1916 and has been hosted 47 times in the past 100-plus years. For the 48th Copa America, hosted here in the United States, female referees will officiate matches for the first time in the tournament's history.
The referees, both men and women, belong to CONMEBOL and UEFA, in a strategic exchange agreement between the confederations, and to Concacaf as guests. There have been 101 referees called to the tournament, and seven of them are women. Of the seven, four are representing CONMEBOL and three are representing Concacaf. They are:
- Edina Alves – BRA (Referee)
- Neuza Back – BRA (Assistant)
- Mary Blanco – COL (Assistant)
- Migdalia Rodríguez – VEN (Assistant)
- Maria Penso – USA (Referee)
- Brooke Mayo – USA (Assistant)
- Kathryn Nesbitt – USA (Assistant)
- Tatiana Guzmán – NIC (VAR)
"It's a dream, a dream come true. I and seven other women are here at this CONMEBOL Copa America. So, for us, it is something very big, something inexplicable, the emotion and the feeling of experiencing all this here," Alves said in a Copa America news release.
Alves, of Brazil, will be the first woman to ever officiate a Copa America match. She was assigned to work the June 21 match between Peru and Chile at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The only Copa America match prior to it, the tournament opener between Argentina and Canada, will be officiated by men, according to the referee assignments.
Alves will serve as the fourth official. Back, also from Brazil, was assigned to be the fifth official for the Peru vs. Chile match, which is essentially the substitute for either of the assistant referees, in case one of them should become unable to continue in that role.
The very next day, on June 22 for Mexico versus Jamaica at NRG Stadium in Houston, Maria Penso has been dubbed as the fourth referee. Mayo was assigned to be the fifth referee of that match.
For more information about the Copa America tournament, click here. For Copa America predictions, click here.
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