Christina Unkel (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Ibanez; born 1986 or 1987) is an American broadcaster and former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

referee.

Early life

Unkel started refereeing at the age of ten. She graduated from

Palm Beach Atlantic University Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) is a private nondenominational Christian university in West Palm Beach, Florida. PBA's nine colleges focus on the liberal arts with a select collection of professional studies. In 2024, PBA's undergraduat ...

in 2008, after which she attended

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university in DeLand, Florida, United States. Established in 1883 as DeLand Academy, it was later renamed John B. Stetson University in honor of John B. Stetson. The university's main campus in DeLand spans 175 ...

, earning a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

Career

Unkel is a former FIFA referee, with experience internationally and in professional domestic leagues in the United States. She later served as State Referee Administrator for the Florida State Referee Committee. She has also worked as president of American side

Tampa Bay Sun FC Tampa Bay Sun FC is an American professional women's soccer club based in Tampa, Florida, that competes in the USL Super League (USLS). Sun FC is owned by real estate developer and investor Darryl Shaw, Bern's Steak House owner David Laxer, and ...

. She was a featured analyst during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

and has also worked as a columnist for ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

'' and

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

. In June 2024, she was employed by British television broadcaster ITV as a refereeing and rules expert for the coverage of the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

in Germany. She received praise for her work, being described as "authoritative" by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.

Personal life

Unkel married American football referee Ted Unkel on 2 May 2009, after meeting at a football tournament in

Cocoa Beach, Florida Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,354 at the 2020 United States census, up from 11,231 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay–Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne–T ...

. She is also an avid Leeds United fan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unkel, Christina Living people American soccer referees Palm Beach Atlantic University alumni Stetson University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)