Andressa Hartmann becomes first woman to referee men’s Gauchão match | OneFootball

Andressa Hartmann made history on Thursday night, becoming the first woman to referee a men’s Série A match in the Gauchão as Monsoon beat São José 2-1 at Passo D'Areia in the fourth round.

According to Globo.com, the São Paulo das Missões native is a regular in Rio Grande do Sul, and in this Gauchão had already worked on the crews for Monsoon v Inter and Grêmio v São Luiz before taking the whistle.

She said a colleague tipped her off about the appointment and she framed the occasion as a personal and collective milestone, a marker in women’s fight for space in football. She joked that debutants pick up the dinner bill.

"I started working in competitions here in the state in 2019. My Gauchão debut as the referee was in 2021, in the Divisão de Acesso. That was also the year I joined the CBF list. In 2024 I refereed Série D of the Brasileiro, as I did last year," she said, speaking to GZH.

Her pathway began in 2012 while studying in Santa Maria, first in futsal, then via the FGF course in 2018. In 2024 she oversaw the first FGF match run by an all-female quartet, Aimoré v São Paulo in the Copa FGF Troféu Zagallo. A former player who trained with Brazil’s under-17s and later represented Malwee in Santa Catarina futsal, she now aims to earn a Fifa badge and said progress will come step by step.

Source: Globo.com