This never happened in a high-profile men’s competition. In recent years, there have been more umpires or line men, but the referee trio has never been shown before. The fourth referee was a man. French Stephanie Frappart (37) actually blew the whistle in the UEFA Champions League match between Juventus and Dynamo Kiev on December 2, after she was already allowed to manage the UEFA Super Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea on August 2, 2019. Frappart was the referee in the World Cup Final between the Netherlands and the states United in July 2019 in Lyon. After UEFA, FIFA has now given the referees the highest whistle pad.
Brazilian Edina Alves Batista (41) was the referee today at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar. Assistant referee Nuza Pak (also Brazilian) and Argentine Mariana de Almeida assisted her.
Al Duhail, who was the Qatari champion, won the Club World Cup, winning the match 3-1. Dutch defender Dave Bolthuis competed in the South Korean Ulsan Hyundai race. He also played against Tigres, Mexico, on Thursday, who won 2-2 by French striker André-Pierre Gignac. The thirty-year-old Bolthuis played in the Netherlands with FC Utrecht and Heerenveen. In January 2019, he moved to Ulsan Hyundai, where he won the AFC Champions League last December.
Dutch referee Danny McKelly takes charge of the first semi-final match of the Club World Cup. Tonight (9 pm) will be held between Tigres and the Brazilian club Palmeiras, who won the Copa Libertadores a week ago in Rio de Janeiro by beating Santos with a goal in the 99th minute. Bayern Munich, the winner of the Champions League, who was able to travel to Qatar only yesterday after some delay, will play in front of Al-Ahly in the other semi-final match on Monday evening. This great Egyptian club crowned itself last November as the best club in Africa.
