Categories: Sports

Meet Singapore’s First FIFA Woman Referee, Abirami Naidu

First Singapore referee to officiate at the FIFA Women’s World Cup

Abirami Naidu,31, is Singapore’s first female referee to be accredited by FIFA.  This year, she will travel to Canada to officiate in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Abirami, who is a policewoman, joins the hall of fame with Singaporeans who had previously refereed at the World Cup Finals. These gold-star referees are Shamsul Maidin in 2006, and the late George Suppiah  in 1974, and assistant referees K. Visvanathan in 2002, and Jeffrey Goh in 2010. All of them officiated in the men’s tournaments.

“For me, going to the World Cup means my hard work has paid off. It’s every referee’s dream,” Abirami told local reports.

Abirami is no stranger to the world of refereeing. She was part of the Singapore women’s national football team from 1998 to 2008 before taking up refereeing to coach younger players. Since then, Abirami has officiated in S-League matches and in the Asian Games in 2010.

Then in 2012, she became Singapore’s first female referee to officiate a FIFA international event, the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan. She was in charge of big teams like US and Germany. In 2014, Abirami travelled Costa Rica in to officiate in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Women Referees in Singapore

Right now, she is one of the few women referees in Singapore and hopes that more will join her ranks.

“I really hope to see more women referees in Singapore.  It would be good to have a strong team of women referees, and I hope one day we will see a lot of top referees from Singapore, of both gender.”

Like this post and MustShareNews’ Facebook page to keep up with our posts!

Talk to us! Send in your story suggestions or comments to hello@mustsharenews.com


Featured image via Facebook
With references from The Straits Times, FAS, Goal.com, AsiaOne

 
Rahimah Rashith

Recent Posts

‘How can people live in this kind of condition?’: Tenants leave West Coast condo unit in a mess

In a bedroom, a solitary pair of white panties were draped on a hanger.

6 May 2024, 2:40 am

Actor Chen Xi engaged to Japanese woman, parents Edmund Chen & Xiang Yun give their blessing

"Let's write the next chapter together," he told her.

6 May 2024, 1:10 am

27-year-old woman to be charged with defamation over false claims about miscarriage at KKH

She will be the second person charged with defamation in relation to this case.

5 May 2024, 11:12 pm

M’sian girl diagnosed with rare liver cancer on 1st day of national exams, receives donations for treatment

Her family, with the help of One Hope Charity, managed to raise RM550,000 in 5…

5 May 2024, 7:32 pm

Drivers in Kallang argue after one honks at other for not seeing oncoming car while leaving lot

Some netizens said that the camcar driver shouldn't have pointed a middle finger.

5 May 2024, 7:11 pm

Dogs swim & play happily in flooded Newton condo carpark on 4 May

The canines played while everyone was waiting for the SCDF to pump the floodwaters out.

5 May 2024, 6:12 pm