Neuza Back will be the first Brazilian to participate in the refereeing trio in a World Cup. In Qatar, she will assist France’s Stéphanie Frappart in the match between Costa Rica and Germany. The Santa Catarina native is one of six professionals selected by FIFA to participate in this year’s World Cup. Until this match in the final stage of the group stage, the games had only been refereed by men – even though Frappart acted as the fourth referee in one game.
A few hours away from being one of the assistants in the game between Náutico and CSA, in the Brazilian Championship Series B, Neuza Back was in Recife when she heard from the press that she had been called by FIFA for the World Cup. The news was received with surprise because it was the first time that the organization called women to referee the games.
Born in the small town of Saudades, in Santa Catarina, she is affiliated with the Paulista Football Federation (FPF) because she moved to Jundiaí in recent years to gain more opportunities nationwide. The strategy worked. At the age of 38, the physical educator and referee has already participated in more than 100 games in the Brasileirão of Series A and B.
Neuza Back decided to be a referee on the encouragement of her brother, André Back, who is also a soccer referee. She graduated in physical education and has been linked to FIFA since 2014. She started working as a referee in amateur games and conquered her space in the sport over time. The next step was to become federated by the Confederação Catarinense de Futebol.
The call-up for this year’s World Cup came after Neuza Back had made a series of achievements in football diversity. The Santa Catarina native was part of the first female arbitration team in a FIFA men’s competition, at the 2020 Club World Cup, which was also held in Qatar.
In addition, the assistant referee was part of the first 100% female referee team in Libertadores history, in 2019. In the same year, she was an assistant referee at the Women’s World Cup. The assistant referee also has the 2016 Olympic Games, in Rio, and 2020, in Tokyo, in her curriculum.
“It is the realization of a dream. Every referee when they start the refereeing course dreams of reaching a World Cup, and for me it was no different. In fact, being a woman, theoretically it would be more difficult. On the day I received the summons, everything I had done, the choices and the dedication, crossed my mind. Worth it. It’s really cool”, said Neuza Back, in an interview with Rede Globo’s program Encontro, 100 days before the start of the World Cup in Qatar.
In addition to Neuza Back, the referees and assistants called to act in matches of the World Cup in Qatar are Karen Díaz Medina (Mexico), Kathryn Nesbitt (USA), Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda), Stéphanie Frappart (France) and Yoshimi Yamashita (Japan ). Listed for the World Cup, Brazilian Edina Alves was left out of the final list.
It is worth remembering that Stéphanie Frappart was the first woman to referee a Champions League match and will now lead the first Cup game with a female arbitration trio, composed of Back and Medina.
In addition to Neuza Back, judges Raphael Claus and Wilton Pereira Sampaio also represent Brazil at the World Cup.
