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Monday, September 11, 2017

Bibiana Steinhaus in Bundesliga ~ Hertha Berlin Vs Werder Bremen Match

Can you identify the woman in the picture, though the post is about another woman of somewhat similar fame !!


Miles away, Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen played out a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon. Thomas Delaney scored an equaliser after Matthew Leckie broke the deadlock  ~ however, the  main focus of attention at the Olympic Stadium was – :  Bibiana Steinhaus, a  38-year-old police officer !! as  country's premier competition, issued just one yellow card as the game passed without controversy.

The 2017–18 Bundesliga is the 55th  season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 18 August 2017 and will conclude on 12 May 2018.  Bayern Munich are the defending champions.

The Bundesliga ["Federal League"] is a professional association football league in Germany and the football league with the highest average stadium attendance worldwide. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary football competition. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played on weekdays. All of the Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal. The winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup.

A total of 54 clubs have competed in the Bundesliga since its founding. Like Bombay winning Ranji Trophy, FC Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga the most, winning the title 26 times. However, like Delhi and Karnataka in the Ranji format,  the Bundesliga has seen other champions with Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, BorussiaMönchengladbach and VfB Stuttgart most prominent among them. The Bundesliga is broadcast on television in over 200 countries.

The Bundesliga was founded in 1962 in Dortmund and the first season started in 1963. The structure and organisation of the Bundesliga along with Germany's other football leagues have undergone frequent changes right up to the present day.  This is not about the sporting history of the game but about -  Bibiana Steinhaus who made history on Sunday by becoming the first female referee to officiate a match in a top European league.

The 38-year-old police officer became the first woman to ref a top-tier match in the German, English, French, Italian or Spanish leagues when she took charge of Hertha Berlin's home Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen. Having been named on the official list of Bundesliga referees for 2017/18, Steinhaus sat out the first two rounds of German league matches before making her top-tier debut at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

She has been refereeing since 2007 and officiated the women's Champions League final this year plus the 2012 women's Olympic tournament final in London. Steinhaus had already built up a wealth of experience by refereeing around 80 second division games and was the fourth official on numerous occasions in the German league, but this is her first time refereeing in Germany's top flight.

The woman at the start of the post is - New Zealand’s  Kathy Cross who became the first woman in an ICC umpires' panel – in ICC Women’s World Cup India 2013, she was the  only female umpire officiating alongside umpires from the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires and the Associate and Affiliate Panel of ICC Umpires.    Cross  is officiated alongside Gregory Brathwaite, Vineet Kulkarni, C. Shamshuddin, Ruchira Palliyaguru, Ahsan Raza, Shaun George,  Ian Ramage, Mark Hawthorne, Shahul Hameed, Buddhi Pradhan and Sarika Prasad.

On 10th   Feb 2013, she stood in the match between  Sri Lanka Women and  Australia Women; as also on 13th  Feb in the match between WI and Australia. Thus on a field in Women’s Cricekt match, instead of the usual 13 – there was one more addition, when Kathy Cross was in the middle. 

Women power in the middle !
With regards – S. Sampathkumar

11th Sept 2017

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