Ghada Mehat (; born 1 May 1995) is an Algerian

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 A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. She has been on the

FIFA International Referees List The FIFA International Referees List is an annual publication of the global list of FIFA international referees in the football-variants controlled by FIFA association football (outdoor football), futsal and beach soccer Beach soccer, also k ...

since 2022.

Career

Born in

Sétif Sétif () is the capital city of the Sétif Province and the 5th most populous city of Algeria, with an estimated population of 1.866.845 in 2017). It is one of the most important cities of eastern Algeria and the country as a whole, since it is c ...

, Mehat developed a passion for

from an early age, often playing in the streets of her hometown. She spent a brief period as a player with before becoming interested in the role of a referee. In 2015, at the age of 20, she decided to pursue refereeing and enrolled in a two-month training course organized by the Constantine Regional Football League. She was the only female participant to complete the course and was subsequently certified as a referee. Her officiating career began with youth tournaments and gradually advanced to the national level, eventually leading to her recognition as an international referee in 2022. On 22 September 2023, she officiated her first international match in the

2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualification Qualification for the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations began on the week of 20–26 September 2023 and concluded on the week of 29 November – 5 December the same year. Its draw was held at the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Salé, Morocco ...

, overseeing the fixture between

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. On 14 April 2024, She became the first woman to referee a men's professional match in the

Algerian Cup The Algerian Cup () also known the Republic Cup (), is a football competition in Algeria, pitting regional teams against each other. It was established in October 1962, three months after independence, and has been played yearly since then apart ...

, officiating a quarter-final match during the

2023–24 Algerian Cup The 2023–24 Algerian Cup () is the 57th edition of the Algerian Cup. It is sponsored by Mobilis (Algeria), Mobilis and known as the Mobilis Algerian Cup for sponsorship purposes. The winners will qualify to the 2024–25 CAF Confederation Cup. A ...

. The match was marked by a heated altercation between then-

MC Alger Mouloudia Club d'Alger (), referred to as MC Alger or MCA for short, is an Algerian football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1921 and its colours are red, green and white. Their home stadium, Ali La Pointe Stadium, has a capacit ...

playmaker

Youcef Belaïli Mohamed Youcef Belaïli (; born 14 March 1992) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for club Espérance de Tunis and the Algeria national team. Early life Belaïli was born on 14 March 1992 in Oran. He started play ...

and Mehat, which drew widespread attention and fueled debate over the presence of female referees in men's football. In August 2024, Mehat was appointed to officiate in the

2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup () was the 8th edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was hos ...

in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Personal life

Mehat holds a Master's degree (Master 2) in Sciences and Techniques of Physical and Sports Activities from Abdelhamid Mehri University in

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

. In addition, she speaks four languages: Arabic, French, English, and German.

References

External links

*
Profile
at WorldFootball.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehat, Ghada 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Sétif Algerian football referees Women association football referees 21st-century Algerian sportswomen