Rebecca Welch has been chosen as one of only three British officials selected for the Olympic football competition at the Paris 2024 Games in the summer.
The other two chosen were Emily Carney and David Coote. Mr Welch will be one of 21 referees to take part in the soccer tournament from a broader group of 89 match referees from 45 countries selected by FIFA.
Goal-line technology and VAR will be introduced, along with semi-automatic offside technology, the latter of which is regularly used in the Champions League and Serie A, but is not currently used in Premier League matches.
The men's tournament will run from July 24th to August 9th, while the women's tournament will open on July 25th and run until August 10th, with both gold medal matches scheduled to be held at the Parc des Princes. is.
Unlike other events held in and around the capital, soccer matches are spread throughout France. In addition to Paris, matches will also be held in Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes.
Welch made history in December when she became the first woman to manage a Premier League match, helping Burnley to a 2-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage. She has been a referee since 2010 and was also the first woman to officiate a championship match in early 2023.
She will be the only British referee at the tournament, but it has not yet been announced whether she will be in charge of the men's or women's competition or which matches she will be in charge of.
Last year, Welch was selected as part of UEFA's 28-member elite referee panel to officiate three matches at the Women's World Cup.
