Doha: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirmed today that Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita will take charge of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ fixture between Australia and India on 13 January 2024 (Saturday) – a landmark appointment that will make her the first woman ever to referee a match in the flagship tournament.

It is the latest feather in the cap of pioneering Yamashita, who is one of five trailblazing female match officials to be involved in the 18th edition of Asia’s crown jewel in Qatar. She will be ably supported in the Group B encounter at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium by assistant referees Makoto Bozono and Naomi Teshirogi – an iconic Japanese trio who made history as the first women officials to oversee matches in the AFC Cup™ (2019), AFC Champions League™ (2022) and J1 League (2023).

The first professional woman referee from Japan, Yamashita earned her FIFA badge in 2015 and has since gone on to smash multiple barriers. The Tokyo native was the first woman to manage a J1 League match in September 2022 and was notably one of six women match officials appointed for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – the first ever appointment of women match officials in the history of the global showpiece. .....

𝙃𝙄𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙍𝙄𝘾

Yoshimi Yamashita becomes the first woman to officiate in the #AsianCup history! 🙌🏼#AsianCup2023 | #HayyaAsia | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/sOiBj6I2C9

— #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) January 13, 2024

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