Yeliz Topaloğlu (born January 1, 1978) is a Turkish FIFA-listed football referee. Outside of refereeing, she is a teacher of physical education. She is FIFA-listed to referee beach soccer, the first woman to be licensed as such.

Early years

Yeliz Topaloğlu was born in 1978. She was raised in Eyüp district of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. In 2000, she entered

Marmara University Marmara University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university, named after the Sea of Marmara, was founded as a university in 1982. However, its ...

to study physical education and sports. After graduating in 2004, she began to work as a physical education and sports teacher. Topaloğlu played tennis, football, and basketball during her university years. She had to retire from active sports, however, because of an injury. She decided to pursue a career as a basketball referee, and applied for the required course. At the same time, her older sister, who wanted to be a football referee, was rejected due to exceeding the age limit. She named Yeliz instead on the application. Yeliz' career as a football referee began as a surprise.

Football referee

Domestic

Topaloğlu began her referee career in 1999, officially debuting as an

assistant 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 ...

in a Women's League match played on December 29, 2001. On February 9, 2002, she was appointed referee in the Women's League, which was the forerunner of the Turkish Women's First Football League. She served in various refereeing roles for youth leagues for boys in several different age categories. She officiated men's A2 League, Regional Amateur League,

TFF Third League The TFF 3. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 3. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season as a continuation of then third level division Turkish Third Foot ...

, and

TFF Second League The TFF 2. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 2. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continu ...

matches as assistant referee. She is also referee at all three women's leagues.

International

On April 4, 2014, she served as the

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (also known as a linesman) is an official who assists the referee in administering the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the Laws, at most organised levels ...

at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification match between the national teams of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The

Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Foo ...

applied to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

to list Topaloğlu as a beach soccer referee, a sport that only has men's competitions. FIFA replied that they would agree if Yeliz could pass the required courses. She became the world's first female beach soccer referee after meeting all the FIFA requirements. Her first international appointment as beach soccer referee was at State 1 of the 2014 Euro Beach Soccer League, held in

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, Italy between June 20 and 22. In 2015, she officiated beach soccer matches at the

2015 European Games The 1st European Games (), also known as the 2015 European Games or Baku 2015 (), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the Europe ...

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan from June 24 to 28, the 2015 Euro Beach Soccer League in

Siófok Siófok (; ; ) is a town in Somogy County, Hungary on the southern bank of Lake Balaton. It is the Somogy County#Municipalities, second largest municipality in Somogy County and the seat of Siófok District. It covers an area of about between Lak ...

, Hungary between August 7–9, as well as at the

2015 Mediterranean Beach Games The 2015 Mediterranean Beach Games was the first edition of the Mediterranean Beach Games. It was held from 28 August to 6 September 2015 in Pescara, Italy. Sports Participating nations All 24 member nations of the Comité international des Jeu ...

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, Italy between August 28 and September 6,

Other sportive activities

Topaloğlu is a second stage fitness instructor and has a CMAS Two Star Diver certificate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topaloglu, Yeliz 1978 births People from Eyüp Marmara University alumni Sportspeople from Istanbul Turkish schoolteachers Turkish football referees Turkish women referees and umpires Living people Women association football referees