Mexico’s true success in the World Cup: referee Karen Diaz debuts in Qatar

In a country marked by sexist violence like Mexico, there is an achievement in the fight to close the gender inequality gap. Karen Diaz is one of the two Latin Americans who have refereed for the first time in a men’s World Cup. Her debut occurred during the decisive Germany-Costa Rica match.

Diaz, 38, spent four games as a reserve referee during the World Cup in Qatar: in Ghana-Portugal, Tunisia-Australia, Wales-England and Morocco-Croatia. The true test of him was given this Wednesday at the Al Bayt stadium, in the city of Jor, to judge from the line in the first half the German offensive that was looking at all costs for victory against the Ticos. The other assistant referee was the Brazilian Nauza Back, while the central referee was the French Stephanie Frappart. After Mexico’s failure in the World Cup, falling in the group stage, the only representative of a football in crisis is the Mexican along with her colleagues Fernando Guerrero, Cesar Arturo Ramos, Alberto Morin and Miguel Angel Hernandez.

Karen Diaz wanted to be a soccer player, she even participated in the youth teams of the Mexican team. She did not achieve it professionally because in Mexico there was no exclusive League for women. She dedicated herself to studying agro-industrial engineering and, to help pay for her studies, she began refereeing neighborhood games in her native Aguascalientes. Her parents warned her that if she only dedicated herself to that, she was going to starve, as she told EL PAIS in 2017. In her first games, the pseudo footballers messed with her, as well as the fans for just being a woman who taught her justice on a soccer field.

“She was always the best of her generation, better than her fellow men. She always stood out in the physical tests, she was very attentive and was not ashamed to ask about everything, ”Gilberto Alcala, one of the most important referees in Mexico, told this newspaper. Diaz started as a central referee, but the Mexican Referees Commission decided that Diaz’s role would be that of linesman. In 2016 she made her debut in a Mexican League game. From that moment on, she has been essential to the arbitration team. She has participated in finals and in continental tournaments. This year, before taking the flight to Qatar, she was awarded the National Sports Award to recognize her work as a referee.

Karen Diaz’s achievement is also the achievement of a group of more than a dozen Mexican referees who want to reach the Men’s First Division and, why not, the World Cup. The pioneer in Mexico was Virginia Tovar, a central referee who fought against the machismo of Mexican soccer to debut in 2004. She could only referee four games. Before being able to debut, the Tigres club board asked the Arbitration Commission that her match not be refereed by a woman.

70% of Mexican women have experienced some type of violence throughout their lives, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi). Mexican referees, as in the case of Karen Diaz, resort to psychological sessions to deal with all kinds of macho insults. Today, Diaz with his flag of off sidehas made history.

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