| Kateryna Monzul Катерина Монзуль | |
| Fullname: | Kateryna Volodymyrivna Monzul |
| Birth Date: | 5 July 1981 |
| Birth Place: | Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine) |
| Years1: | 2011– |
| League1: | Ukrainian First League |
| Years2: | 2016– |
| League2: | Ukrainian Premier League |
| Role1: | Referee |
| Role2: | Referee |
| Internationalyears1: | 2004– |
| Confederation1: | FIFA listed |
| Internationalrole1: | Referee |
Kateryna Volodymyrivna Monzul (Ukrainian: Катерина Володимирівна Монзуль; born 5 July 1981) is a Ukrainian football referee.
Monzul is tall, speaks fluent English, and has a degree in architecture and town planning from Kharkiv National Academy of Urban Economy.[1] She took charge of her first international match in September 2005, Finland versus Poland in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers.[2] She first refereed in a final tournament at UEFA Women's Euro 2009, while at the 2011 World Cup she served as a fourth official.
The 2013 UEFA Women's Euro's Norway versus Denmark semi-final marked her first performance in a major nations tournament's final stages. The following year she refereed the 2014 UEFA Women's Champions League final. In 2014, she was voted second in the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) World's Best Woman Referee poll behind Bibiana Steinhaus.[3]
Monzul refereed the opening match of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, marking her debut in the competition as main referee, in which she awarded a controversial injury time penalty kick to host nation Canada who scored to beat China 1–0.[4] She also refereed the final on 5 July 2015 between the United States and Japan. In 2015, she was named as the IFFHS World's Best Woman Referee.[5]
On 3 April 2016, Monzul started working in the Ukrainian Premier League, in a match between Chornomorets Odesa and Volyn Lutsk. In doing so, she became the first female referee in the elite men's Ukrainian football division.[6]
In June 2017, Monzul was appointed to be an official at the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 in the Netherlands.[7] On 3 December 2018, it was announced that Monzul had been appointed to be a referee for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.[8] After the conclusion of the round of 16, FIFA announced that Monzul was selected as one of 11 referees who would be assigned to matches during the final 8 matches of the tournament.[9]
In November 2020, she officiated the UEFA Nations League match between San Marino and Gibraltar as part of the first all-female refereeing team to take charge of a senior men's international.[10] In December 2020, Monzul, Maryna Striletska and Oleksandra Ardasheva became the first all-women's officiating team in a men's UEFA match when they took charge of a UEFA Europa League match between K.A.A. Gent and FC Slovan Liberec.[11]
In February 2022 Monzul fled her home country of Ukraine after the Russian invasion.[12]
On 31 July 2022, she refereed the Women's Euro final at Wembley Stadium.[13] The match was won by England, defeating Germany 2-1 after extra time.
On 9 January 2023, FIFA appointed her to the officiating pool for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.[14]
