Alhambra Nievas González (born 9 August 1983) is a former Spain women's rugby union international and a current rugby union referee. Nievas refereed the women's final at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

she also served as an assistant referee at a men's international between

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. This saw her become the first woman to officiate in a men's rugby union international. In 2017 Nievas refereed a Rugby Europe Conference match between

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. This saw her become the first woman to referee a men's rugby union international in Europe. In 2016 Nievas, along with

Rasta Rasivhenge Fhatuwani 'Rasta' Rasivhenge (born in Johannesburg on 3 January 1986) is a South African rugby union referee who is a member of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) Premier Panel. He was appointed to referee the final of the rugby sevens tournam ...

, was jointly named

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

Referee of the Year. She is the first woman to win the award. She was previously nominated for the award in 2015.

Early life

Nievas was born in Beas de Granada and was named after the

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...

. As a child she spent time in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

, where she played and tried out various sports including association football,

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

Playing career

Club and province

Nievas first began playing

women's rugby union Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's r ...

in 2002, aged 19, while attending the

University of Málaga The University of Málaga (UMA, ''Universidad de Málaga'') is a public university ranked 23 among all Spanish universities and 683 in the world. It was established in 1972 and has, as of 2016, 30,203 Bachelor students and 2576 on a Master's pr ...

, where she was studying for a degree in telecommunications engineering. She subsequently played for the university's women's team for ten years and also served as club captain. She remains actively involved with the team, serving as a coordinator and trainer. In addition to playing for CDU Málaga, Nievas represented Andalucía at provincial level.

Spain international

During the

2006 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2006 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2006 RBS Women's 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the fifth series of the rugby union Women's Six Nations Championship and was won by , w ...

, Nievas made three appearances for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. She made her debut on 11 February in a 3–86 defeat against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She also played against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 25 February and against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 18 March. Nievas also played for the Spain women's national rugby sevens team.

Refereeing career

Early years

Nievas first began refereeing in 2006, aged 26. While still an active player, she agreed to help out at a children's tournament. Then on weekends, when she did not have a match, she began regularly refereeing youth matches. Her talents were recognised by both the ''Federación Andaluza de Rugby'' and the

Spanish Rugby Federation The Royal Spanish Rugby Federation () is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Spain. The Spanish Rugby Federation was founded in 1923, and joined the International Rugby Football Board, later known as the International Rugby Board a ...

. In 2012, after being offered the chance to take charge of matches in senior men's competitions, Nievas chose to retire as a player and concentrate on refereeing. In 2012–13 she began refereeing in the

División de Honor de Rugby The División de Honor de Rugby is Spain's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The División de Honor de Rugby Championship is organised by the Federación Española de Rugby ( Spanish Rugby Federation) and currently consists of ...

and in 2014–15 she refereed the championship final. In 2014, after Paloma Loza and Itziar Díaz, she became the third woman to referee a Copa del Rey de Rugby final. She also refereed the 2017 final.

Women's international competitions

6 August 2016: Nievas refereeing a match between Brazil and Great Britain women's national rugby sevens team, Great Britain at the

On 15 February 2014, at the 2014 USA Women's Sevens, USA Women's Sevens, Nievas took charge of a match between Australia women's national rugby sevens team, Australia and China women's national rugby sevens team, China. This was her first match in charge on the

World Rugby Women's Sevens Series The World Rugby SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for Naming rights, sponsorship reasons, is a series of international rugby sevens tournaments for women's national teams run by World Rugby. The inaugural series was held in 2012–13 as the successo ...

circuit. On 30 November 2017 at the Dubai Women's Sevens she took charge of a match between

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

. This was her 100th World Rugby Women's Sevens Series match. In 2014 Nievas made her international debut as a referee in the women's fifteen-a-side game when she took charge of a game between

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

. She subsequently refereed games in the

Women's Six Nations Championship The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition featuring six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home ...

and at both the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. She also refereed the women's final at the

Men's international competitions

Nievas served as referee at both the 2015 Africa Cup Sevens and the 2016 Men's Rugby Sevens Final Olympic Qualification Tournament. On 19 November 2016 Nievas served as an assistant referee at an international between

and the

Anoeta Stadium Anoeta Stadium (), currently known as the Reale Arena for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain that was inaugurated in 1993. The stadium lies at the Anoeta Sports Complex, and is mostly used for ...

. This made her the first woman to officiate in a men's rugby union international. On 14 October 2017 Nievas refereed a Rugby Europe Conference match between

and

, becoming the first woman to referee a men's rugby union international in Europe.

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Joy Neville Joy Neville (born 24 July 1983) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and rugby union referee. As a player, Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captained the first Ir ...

became the second two weeks later.

Honours

Individual *

Referee of the Year ** 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nievas, Alhambra 1983 births Living people Spain international women's rugby union players Spain international women's rugby sevens players Women rugby union referees Spanish rugby union coaches Spanish rugby union referees University of Málaga alumni Sportspeople from the Province of Granada Spanish female rugby union players Spanish referees and umpires 21st-century Spanish sportswomen