Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi made history this Sunday by awarding a penalty confirmed by the VAR, two yellow cards and a win.
The Italian became the first woman to referee a match in the men's Serie A, a championship that is more than a century old.
She is only the third woman to do so in a major European league in all of history, after the German Bibiana Steinhaus, who made her debut in 2017, and the French Stéphanie Frappart, who made her debut in the top flight in 2019. In Italy there are 1,700 associated referees , who are part of a total of 30,000 members.
In her debut in the highest category of Italian football, Ferrieri smoothly directed Sassuolo-Salernitana at the Mapei stadium in Reggio Emilia, which ended 5-0 in favor of Sassuolo.
“I had a little more tension, but then, when I got to the field,
I have done my job as always.
It's okay for me to talk about it, it can lead other women to follow my path, ”she told local media.
Ferrieri Caputi is from Livorno, she is 31 years old and has a degree in Sociology and Social Research.
This Sunday she wrote a great little chapter in the history of the first division of Italian soccer, but her presence on the field did not surprise anyone.
He was 17 years old when he officiated the first game in the junior category, 25 when he started refereeing in Serie D (fourth category and the maximum in amateur football) and 30 when he made his debut in Serie C. He trained in the Livorno section of the Italian Association of Referees (AIA) and has been a professional referee since the 2020/2021 season.
She currently is also a corporate wellness consultant.
She is used to breaking glass ceilings.
In October 2021 she made her debut in the second division of the Italian soccer league refereeing Cittadella-Spal.
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The most unusual Serie A
At the end of 2021, she became the first woman to referee a Serie A team - Cagliari, who faced second division Cittadella - in a Coppa Italia match.
Previously, Ferrieri Caputi had been appointed as international referee and in October 2021 she officiated Scotland-Hungary in Glasgow, a match valid for the qualifying phase of the 2023 Women's World Cup.
She achieved the promotion for which she had been preparing for sixteen years this summer, when the Italian Association of Referees finally decided to include her among the eligible referees for Serie A. “It is a historic moment.
Maria Sole has been promoted because she deserves it.
It will then be the designator who decides her path, we do not want to give privileges to anyone, ”said the president of the association, Alfredo Trentalange.
In the current season, before being appointed to Sassuolo-Salernitana in Serie A, Ferrieri Caputi was the fourth referee at Monza-Udinese on matchday three and refereed Sampdoria-Regina in the Italian Cup, as well as Modena-Frosinone and Brescia-Perugia in Serie B.
His debut in Serie A, a championship accustomed to fiery environments -insults included- both in the stands and on the pitch, has not aroused any particular controversy.
But it has opened the debate on whether or not its gender should be underlined.
She has made it clear that if the headlines that pick up her debut in the top flight of Italian football help other women to follow her path, they are welcome.
"If I'm wrong, I hope they criticize me as a referee and not as a woman", she has pointed out.
Some believe that too much attention can be harmful.
“Speaking too much about the refereeing of Maria Sole runs the risk of putting too much pressure, which is not useful at the moment: she did well, as I hope other youngsters that we will test in Serie A do, because they have quality and they have shown on the pitch, in Serie B, they deserve the top series.
The more we talk about them, the more we will harm them”, said Gianluca Rocchi, referee designator for the Serie A and B championships.
Ferrieri Caputi acknowledges that he has encountered prejudice and even insults, especially in the lower categories.
“Macho prejudices were a problem when they could affect me.
When I took them for what they are, they began to give me strength”, he explained.
And he has pointed out the obtuse characters he has encountered: “Many, in all roles, from colleague to superior.
Some go out of their way to make you uncomfortable.
And then certain insults from the stands.
But the big problem is the initial moment, in the lower categories”.
In fact, if you go through the newspaper library of recent days, there are dozens of players, coaches or teams from lower categories sanctioned for directing sexist insults at female referees.
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