Back to Football
Breaking ⚽ Football 2 min read

History to be made as Bafana Bafana learn referee team for clash with Czech Republic

NI

Nick Said

Published 6 days ago

South Africa’s crucial Group A fixture against the Czech Republic in Atlanta on Thursday will be refereed by Tori Penso, the first American women to officiate at a men's World Cup.

[p]It will be a completely female-led team with compatriots Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt serving as assistant referees. [/p][p]Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh from New Zealand is the fourth official. [/p][image alt="The referee team for the fixture" id="d983fed0-08ee-4b87-a0ff-47112573976c" credit-line="FIFA" guid="ef891fe0-0233-43ed-a6e4-6cf748ea108c" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Penso started in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) but in 2020 became the first women to officiate in the Major League Soccer in 20 years and officiated in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.[/p][p]Both Mayo and Nesbitt were her assistants for that final between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a] too, so are experienced working together. [/p][p]Bafana need victory to get their campaign back on track after a 2-0 loss to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mexico/O6iHcNkd/"]Mexico[/a] in their opener.[/p]

Related stories

⚽ Football New

Mohamed Salah proves he is still the man as Egypt make history against New Zealand

Dominik Reiniš
⚽ Football New

World Cup LIVE: Argentina look to reach knockouts vs Austria before France take on Iraq

Flashscore
⚽ Football New

Kylian Mbappe's five standout games for France as he prepares for 100th cap

Anna Carreau
⚽ Football New

COLUMN: Ex-Netherlands coach Frans Hoek dissects Dutch demolition of Sweden

Frans Hoek with Finley Crebolder
⚽ Football New

Why Roberto De Zerbi wants Liverpool's Cody Gakpo to be a focal point of Spurs attack

Jason Pettigrove
⚽ Football New

Portugal forward Conceicao insists teammates don't feel pressure to pass to Ronaldo

AFP