20 August 2023 , 11:50
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An American referee has taken to the pitch today in Sydney to oversee the Women’s World Cup final between Spain and England - and gave the former side a penalty, which was saved - but who is the woman overseeing the historical game?
Florida native Tori Penso's appointment was chosen "unexpectedly", according to FIFA referees boss Pierluigi Collina. But he then conceded that the association is "fully convinced that the best has to be the referee for the final, and she was the best." She also officiated England’s victory over co-hosts Australia in the semi-finals.
"When he flipped that over to showcase my name, I melted,” Penso said in an interview published by FIFA. She continued: "I didn’t even know how I reacted, to be honest. Tears of joy, for sure, but I was just overwhelmed with emotion." In the second half of today's game, Penso gave Spain a penalty after reviewing VAR following the ball brushing England's Keira Walsh on the hand. Spain's Jennifer Hermoso took the strike which was epicly saved by England goalkeeper Mary Earps.
Penso has been a Fifa-rated referee since 2021 and took charge of Germany’s 6-0 win over Morocco and Switzerland’s 0-0 draw with New Zealand in the group stages, as well as France’s 4-0 win against Morocco in the last-16. She has officiated men’s games in Major League Soccer (MLS) since 2020 and was the first woman to do so in 20 years. Her husband, Chris, also has been an MLS referee on the FIFA list for international games. They have three daughters together. Her path to the Women’s World Cup final opened after the two-time defending champions US team was eliminated in the round of 16 by Sweden.
British pundits on Twitter have been unhappy with Penso's referring during today's game. One user, Matt Soper, wrote: This referee clearly wanted to be the stand-out in the final. Spain should be down to ten and the penalty decision was farcical." Another, Patrick Roberts, wrote: "Some very suspicious calls and late blows of her whistle."
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People have also accused her of "bottling" a game-changing decision when Spain's Salma Paralluelo, who was on a yellow card after kneeing Alex Greenwood, kicked the ball away to waste time during the penalty. Penso failed to give her a second yellow card and people were outraged.
One Twitter user wrote: "How is that not a second yellow, cowardly from the ref." A ssecond added: "Player boots the ball away to waste time already on a yellow... no second yellow." While another commented: "Ref bottled sending Salma off there. Second yellow for kicking it away."
Pundits have now questioned whether the Lionesses could have won if she was sent off, meaning they would have played against 10 players and could have potentially found an opening to level.
Penso only gave out two yellow cards across her first three games at the tournament, but then showed a further two in England’s 3-1 win over Australia in the semi-finals. Penso began her refereeing career at the age of 14, now age 38, she has been in the career for over two decades.