Ana Paula Oliveira was the inspiration for Neuza Back, the linesman who will make history at the Qatar Cup this Thursday (1st), trying her hand at refereeing.
Neuza is in the first female arbitration trio to act in a men’s World Cup match. The World Cup in Qatar is the first in history with women representatives in refereeing.
The referee for Germany x Costa Rica, at 4 pm (Brasília time), will be the French Stéphanie Frappart, and the other line assistant, the Mexican Karen Díaz Medina.
Before the Cup, in an interview with Campeãs, on Rádio Bandeirantes, Neuza from Santa Catarina spoke about her decision to venture into an area in which women are a minority.
“I was motivated by Ana Paula. At the time I became interested in refereeing, she was at the height of her career. As I loved football, I turned on the TV and she was working on the classics, the big games” stated Neuza .
“Since I liked football a lot, I started to see refereeing as a way of participating in the games. Being part of that event, of the show.”
The 38-year-old arbitration assistant said she met Ana Paula, six years older than her, in person in her hometown.
“At the time, Ana Paula was sponsored by a sports company in my city, Saudades, a very small town in the interior of Santa Catarina”, said Neuza.
“She went to do an event in the city and I met her in person. It was she who really motivated me to get into refereeing, to take the course and try to get to the big games”, she concluded, who has been acting as a linesman since 2005.
Ana Paula was for years the best-known arbitration assistant in Brazil, working from 1998 to 2007.
He played in the Paulista and Brazilian championships and in the Copa do Brasil. He did not, however, become part of the FIFA board.
In addition to standing out as a linesman, she was invited to pose for the men’s magazine Playboy. She accepted and was on the cover of the July 2007 issue.
After he stopped acting in arbitration, he studied journalism, graduating in the profession.
He decided to return to football and since 2020 he has been president of the Arbitration Commission of the Paulista Football Federation.
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