Trailblazing female referee Stephanie Frappart had to be escorted to safety by police at the Greek Cup final on Saturday, as tensions boiled over in the fixture in the Panthessaliko Stadium in Volos between Panathinaikos and Aris.
Due to problems associated with hooliganism in Greece, no fans were present in the stadium during the game, but the conflict with Frappart appears to have surfaced nonetheless with players and staff themselves.
During the match, Frappart booked 12 players, awarding three red cards in total to Giannis Kotsiras of Panathinaikos, as well as Aris duo Jean Jules and Vladimir Darida.
This fact, coupled with a late 97th minute winning goal from Georgios Vagiannidis (that would crown Panathinaikos as 1-0 victors over Aris), is thought to be the cause of the escalation.
Somewhat ironically, it’s being reported that French woman Frappart was originally selected to take charge of the game “to avoid any concerns over violence or bias with a local Greek referee.”
In the images, she can be seen being escorted to safety by police.
Aris club president Theodoros Karypidis can be seen amongst those approaching the official.
Although this clash will have made the headlines for anti social reasons, Frappart is well used to the spotlight in other capacities.
She became the first female to referee a men’s World Cup match in 2022 when she was selected as the woman in the middle between Costa Rica and Germany in Qatar, and she was also the first to referee in Ligue 1, in the Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup too.
