The day after refereeing Independiente – Arsenal by Argentine First Division, Mariana de Almeida woke up early. Right away she noticed four missed calls from her husband Javier Uziga, an assistant referee like her. Returning by road after directing in Paraná, she returned the call worried. And Javier attended her euphoric …
-You’re going to the Club World Cup, Mariana! To the Club World Cup!
“I did not understand anything, I had not yet seen the messages or the mail with the official designation”, laughs De Almeida, hours before traveling to Qatar. “I had no indication, and beyond surprise, I felt a happiness and enormous pride, “adds the 38-year-old judge.
De Almeida, along with Brazilians Edina Alves Batista (referee) and Neuza Back (assistant referee), will be the first women to join the refereeing team at a FIFA Club World Cup, whose 2020 edition will begin on February 4.
“Personally, I take it as recognition of my career, and another nice proof of confidence in my work. All within a context in which more and more female referees are called up for men’s tournaments. This did not happen when I started, and hopefully it will motivate more girls or women to dedicate themselves to refereeing ”.
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From fan and journalist to… referee!
How was De Almeida’s relationship with soccer born? “I had no family influence and I’m not good at playing, but I always liked him. He would go to any game, especially with friends from high school. And I decided that I would do something related to sports ”.
Thus, in 2000, sports journalism began. “One of the classes was refereeing, more than anything the rules, and I liked it. But I felt that if it was going to be a woman talking about the subject, I had to go deeper, ”explains De Almeida.
“I told the professor, a former referee, and it seemed like a good idea, so he recommended that I take the course at the Argentine Association of Referees. “You discover something new there,” he told me. I was right! ”He exclaims laughingly.
De Almeida did not face fear or prejudice, his own or that of others. “A secretary took my application, and I felt super good from minute one. They didn’t look at me weird or tell me ‘what are you doing here’. The same as in journalism, where there were not so many girls either. I felt very normal ”.
Especially when the practices started. “There I took the taste of it seriously, and started to think of it as a career. At that point I was doing an internship at a sports newspaper, but I knew they would not be compatible. So I decided on arbitration ”.
But the whistle wasn’t his thing. “From a move I liked to collaborate with the referee, to fulfill that secondary role that, sometimes, becomes primary, because our decisions are important. I loved how the action looked from the line! ”Emphasizes the assistant referee.
Sum of experiences
De Almeida considers herself lucky in the arbitration. “Nothing strange ever happened to me, nor did I leave crying, saying ‘I don’t want to know anything else.’ Rather the opposite ”. Even when she started in 2006 to direct inferiors, as an AFA referee. “Mothers were happy to see a woman, although later they would get angry if she charged them against it,” he humorously clarifies.
Humor that does not lose when remembering some funny situation that he went through on the ascent, where the lines are near the stands. “I would take out the card to write something down and they would yell at me phone numbers … I couldn’t help but laugh.”
When refereeing, De Almeida does not distinguish between men and women. “The regulation is only one. In Argentina, I know many players well, if we grew up together! The same as many players. On the court there is respect. We stopped being something strange for a long time ”.
Although she has been a FIFA assistant referee since 2008, her first FIFA tournament was the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, an event with memories that accompany her today. “Beyond the excitement, I was a substitute for the final, they gave us a pennant and I have used it ever since.”
They then went through the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 2016 Women’s Olympic Soccer Tournament and the 2018 U-17 Women’s World Cup, before adding their second senior World Cup in 2019, where she was a member of the VAR team for the final. “A privilege that they trusted me to use a tool with which I just had contact.”
The #Eternal glory! A moment forever: for the second time, @Palms is champion of CONMEBOL #Libertadores. pic.twitter.com/2bkTrKjXb5
– CONMEBOL Libertadores (@Libertadores) January 31, 2021
Liberators, Qatar and later
In September 2020, De Almeida starred in another milestone: together with her compatriot Daiana Milone, they became the first to join an arbitration shortlist for the Copa Libertadores (there was a record for the Copa Sudamericana, before the pandemic slowed down the competition).
Racing Club – Nacional was her turn, a weighty duel. “It is true that it was due to Covid-19 cases, but they trusted us despite the fact that we had not directed for seven months, and what it means to assign judges from the country of the local team. But that designation was later corroborated with others, without Covid involved ”, he highlights.
After directing the first final of Argentine women’s professional soccer between Boca and River, De Almeida only thinks of Qatar. “There is some anxiety, but I want to enjoy it, beyond responsibility.” He acknowledges that they formed a WhatsApp group with Alves Batista and Back, “to talk only about the World Cup. I know them, I played VAR for both of them in the World Cup, but I also saw them in other tournaments despite not forming shortlists ”.
Beyond the Club World Cup, De Almeida knows what he wants. “Directing until he gives me the body, more so now that the VAR opened another possibility. But beyond my goals, I would like there to be a referee in the America’s Cup or in Qatar 2022. These are opportunities that open up and leave something for generations to come ”.
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