October 09, (THEWILL) – England’s World Cup qualifier in Andorra on Saturday would be refereed by a full cast of female referees.
According to England manager Gareth Southgate, it will be a “very important moment for gender equality”.
40-year-old Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul will take centre stage for the fixture and will be joined by Maryna Striletska and Svitlana Grushko, also from Ukraine, as assistant referees for the match.
“For us it is almost irrelevant, the quality of the official is important, not the gender,” said Southgate.
He also reaffirmed his conviction that the best approach to the coronavirus pandemic is to get vaccinated.
Tammy Abraham revealed that he is vaccinated earlier this week, while former Chelsea teammate Fikayo Tomori chose not to reveal his status, citing a “personal issue”
Southgate has been a vocal backer of the government’s vaccine campaign, including appearing in a promotional video, and claims he has “yet to hear anyone offer an alternative”
“Everybody knows where I stand on the subject,” he added. “To move out of the pandemic the only way was a vaccination programme. That was essential.
“There are lots of individual circumstances around that. I understand people could be anxious. When you are in the camp of over 50, there is less to consider, it’s a lot more straightforward decision.
“I am a believer that is the right thing to do, but I understand there are other topics where everybody would be aligned and we would all have a clear view as a team.
“With this it is a little bit more nuanced. Lots of people have had the virus so maybe they are feeling antibodies are high, people might have individual medical conditions, some people might have religious reasons.”
England drew 1-1 in Poland to remain unbeaten and top of their World Cup qualifying group, four points ahead of Albania, after beating Hungary 4-0 in Budapest and Andorra by the same score at Wembley in September.
Following their journey to Andorra, England will face Hungary on Tuesday, and a second straight win could see them qualify for next year’s World Cup in Qatar, which will take place from November 21 to December 18, 2022.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
