First referee woman in the top flight Rocchi: “She deserves it”

the case

Small steps, but here we are. On 1 July, barring sensational unforeseen events, the announcement of the referees for the next season will in its own way become a historic day for Italian football: Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi, 32, from Livorno, will be officially enrolled in the group of Serie A referees and Serie B. A turning point for the entire movement which thus opens definitively to female referees.

Ferrieri Caputi, a degree in sociology but a passion for football, is part of Can C and is an international referee. His resume makes us understand the strength, tenacity and character: at 25 he made his debut in Serie D, at 30 in Serie C and only after a year the first race in Serie B. Ferrieri Caputi has already entered history because in the December 2021 she became the first woman to referee an Italian Cup match with a Serie A team: Cagliari-Cittadella was played and she performed an excellent test, also thanks to the help of the Var (canceled three goals).

Now the countdown for the debut in the Italian top league has started and who knows whether the doors of the most prestigious European stages will not open for Maria Sole, on the model of the French Stéphanie Frappart, the first female referee to direct a Uefa Super Cup final (Liverpool-Chelsea in 2019) and the first to referee in the Champions League (2020, Juventus-Dinamo Kiev). “I can guarantee that if she comes to referee in Serie A, a woman is her because she deserves it,” specified the designator of Serie A and B Gianluca Rocchi. Emphasizing that today women are “prepared both physically and technically”. Whoever arrives in Serie A therefore “is because you deserved promotion on the pitch”. –