AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: In a historic moment for Indian Refereeing and Women’s Football in India in general Uvena Fernandes became the first ever Indian Woman Assistant Referee to officiate in a FIFA World Cup, the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan.

Not only that, Uvena further scripted history by becoming the first Indian Assistant Referee to officiate in a FIFA World Cup Final when she officiated in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Final between DPR Korea and Japan.

In total Uvena officiated in four FIFA World Cup matches including the Final on October 21, 2016.

For her outstanding performance in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals, Uvena was conferred with the AFC Special Referees Award for 2016 in a glittering ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The AIFF President Mr. Praful Patel congratulated Uvena on scripting history and had tweeted from his Official Twitter Account @praful_patel, “Congratulations to Uvena Fernandes on being conferred with the #AFC Referees Special Award in #Malaysia. She makes us proud

Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF mentioned that it was a “very special moment for Refereeing in India.”

“I wish her all the best for the future and expect her to scale more glory and officiate in the Women’s World Cup in the near future,” he had told www.the-aiff.com. “She is a role model and has set the benchmark for Refereeing in India.”

“Development of Indian Referees stays on our priority list. It’s nice to see Indian Referees get International recognition,” Mr. Das had said.

Meanwhile, All India Football Federation’s Head of Referees Col. (Retd.) Goutam Kar had said: “This is a historic moment for Indian Football. She is a role model for the younger generation of referees and we hope she can inspire more women to take up refereeing.”