Debut in the FNL and appointment to the Olympics: as a judge Pustovoitova twice entered the history of Russian football in six days

Praise to Juran and Khachaturian

April 2021 Anastasia Pustovoitova will remember for a long time.

After all, in just six days in her career, two important events happened at once: first, she became the first female judge in history to serve an FNL match, and then received an invitation to the women's football tournament of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Before her, none of the Russians had received such an honor.

In addition to the 40-year-old Muscovite, her permanent assistant Ekaterina Kurochkina will also go to Japan.

“This is a great success for the national refereeing school.

At the end of last year, we launched a large-scale reform, and I am sure that in the future our referees will not only be appointed to the main tournaments, but also serve their finals, ”the RFU quotes the words of the head of the referee committee Ashot Khachaturyants.

And on Saturday, Pustovoitova worked at the FNL match "Chertanovo" - "SKA-Khabarovsk".

The game ended with a major victory for the Far Eastern team - 4: 0, and Anastasia herself was not afraid to show a yellow card in the second minute (in total, she had five mustard plasters).

She did not stop there and soon appointed a penalty kick to the Muscovites' goal for hitting the ball into the defender's hand.

“I immediately gave a yellow one and understood:“ Wow!

Don't expect an easy game ”.

Then another penalty - the guys generally played roughly.

So the first half hour was not easy.

I was even re-concentrated, because I was afraid to miss something, ”- after the meeting, the judge shared her impressions in an interview with Sports.

In general, the referee made several controversial decisions not in favor of the losing side.

It is no coincidence that the club's press service in the video review of the match emphasized these controversial episodes.

For example, in the first half, 16-year-old rising star of FC Chertanovo Sergei Pinyaev was hit in the face with his elbow in someone else's penalty area.

And after the break, the ball hit the hand of SKA-Khabarovsk defender Gleb Grachev.

But the referee didn’t point to the dot anymore.

At the same time, the impulsive head coach of the guests Sergey Juran also expressed dissatisfaction with the actions of Pustovoitova from the sidelines.

But after the final whistle, the specialist praised Anastasia.

“It is worth inviting her to other FNL matches.

I don't think she had any global mistakes.

There are many girls working in Europe, this is normal.

And we need to be trusted.

I am sure that in the future women will judge the RPL, I have no doubt about that.

I think it is right that they are given chances and opportunities, ”TASS quotes Juran.

According to Pustovoitova herself, after the game, many male colleagues supported her, including the country's best referee Sergey Karasev, who received a call to Euro 2020.

“Everyone congratulated.

In general, we always congratulate each other on all international appointments, and on privates too.

Many men advised me not to let the guys down.

Sergey wrote: “Don't worry!

You will make your debut in the RPL.

And I will be your VAR! "

So everything will be, but not right away, ”added Anastasia.

2019 Champions League Final and World Cup Bronze Match

Despite the fact that Pustovoitova is not very well known to a wide circle of fans, she is a fairly experienced referee and has achieved serious success in women's football.

The former footballer of the Russian national team has been repeatedly recognized as the country's best referee among the fair sex, and she has trips to two European Championships - in 2013 and 2017.

And in 2012, she already entered the history of Russian football, becoming the first woman to win a match in the men's official tournament.

Anastasia was appointed to the Moscow derby CSKA - Lokomotiv as part of the country's youth championship.

But Anastasia's real popularity was brought about by her appearance in the Krasava YouTube project.

An issue with her participation was published in April 2019 and gained more than 1 million views.

After that, Pustovoitova completed the final of the Women's Champions League, and also served the match for the third place in the 2019 World Cup.

In the same year, she was included in the list of the FNL referee, and Nikolai Levnikov, who was then the chairman of the RFU referee committee, promised to personally petition for the ward so that she could take part in the PFL games.

At the moment, Anastasia has nine matches in the country's third-strongest division.

And in March 2020, Pustovoitova was first assigned to the RPL meeting between Lokomotiv and Akhmat.

True, it was only about the position of a reserve arbiter.

Savin's "charge of slippers" and Frappard's example

In the commemorative episode of "Krasava" Pustovoitova went through the traditional rite of the channel - "loading slippers" for good luck.

It is believed that the person in whose shoes the presenter Yevgeny Savin is like should succeed in the near future.

Anastasia then wished herself a job in the Premier League as the main referee.

And her dream may well come true in the near future.

The new leadership of the Russian judiciary does not hide the fact that they want to involve women in work at the most elite level.

In particular, Khachaturyants directly stated this after the match "Chertanovo" - "SKA-Khabarovsk".

“I would like them to appear faster and more actively.

Pustovoitova is a very vivid example of professionalism and full dedication, especially since she serves men's football ”, - quotes the TASS functionary.

Supported by the head and head of the refereeing department Viktor Kashshai.

According to him, in the future, girls will definitely have a chance to declare themselves at RPL matches.

“This can be changed.

In Ukraine, there is a top referee Ekaterina Monzul - she receives appointments for matches in the Premier League, a couple of weeks ago she worked at the game Shakhtar - Dynamo Kiev.

There are women in the first leagues of Germany and France, ”Kashshai noted in an interview with“ Championship ”.

At least after the arrival of Khachaturyants, Anastasia began to work in the judging committee.

According to Pustovoitova herself, she will be able to reach the level of the Premier League in a couple of years, "if health permits."

But first, she needs to complete her VAR training.

If in Russia the work of a woman in men's matches still looks unusual, in Europe it is quite common.

So, in Germany, Bibiana Steinhaus won a total of 23 matches of the first Bundesliga and 92 - the second.

In Ukraine, the peer Pustovoitova Monzul enjoys serious authority, with 39 meetings in the local Premier League.

This season, she is one of the country's leading referees.

It is no coincidence that Ekaterina was twice entrusted with judging the derby between Dynamo Kiev and Shakhtar.

But the greatest success among the fairer sex was achieved by Stephanie Frappard.

She not only regularly works at the games of the French championship, but also rewrites history over and over again.

In 2019, she became the first woman to serve in a UEFA European Cup final when she was nominated to play for the UEFA Super Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea.

Already this season, the Frenchwoman has achieved a similar achievement in the Champions League (group stage match Juventus - Dynamo). Finally, in April, Frappart made history again by being challenged to Euro 2020. True, so far we are only talking about the role of the reserve referee.