BIBIANA STEINHAUS (GERMANY) 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018
IFFHS AWARDS – THE WORLD’S BEST WOMAN REFEREE 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018
PRESENTATION
Bibiana Steinhaus , born 24 March 1979 in Bad Lauterberg (Germany), is the Recordholder of the IFFHS Awards of THE WORLD’S BEST WOMAN REFEREE. She won 4 Awards since 2012 and was always ranked in the World’s Top 5 !
Before becoming a referee like her father, Bibiana was first player a few years. She began then quickly a Referee career, becoming police officer as her job. After her certification in 1999 from the German Federation, she directed Women Bundesliga matches before moving to the Men Regionalliga (third Division) in 2001. She was chosen to whistle the German Women Cup Final 2003 and began refereeing in the Men’s Second Bundesliga in 2007, making her the first female referee in German’s men professional football.
FIFA Referee already in 2003, she was selected at all great events of Women Football for the FIFA U20 World Cup 2008, the UEFA Women’s Euro 2009, the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup 2010 and the FIFA Women World Cup 2011 in Germany, where she directed the final between Japan and the USA !
She officiated at the Olympic Women Tournament 2012, the UEFA Women’s Euro 2013, the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015, the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France.
On 12 May 2017, she directed the Final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League between Lyon and Paris in Cardiff and one week later she was promoted in Germany to officiate in the Men Bundesliga, the Top Level ! 10 September 2017 : Bibiana Steinhaus made history this day, she became the first female referee in the Men’s League History at the match Hertha Berlin against Werder Bremen !
She was crowned four times THE WORLD’S BEST WOMAN REFEREE by IFFHS in 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, being ranked each year in the Top 5 in the World since the beginning of the Award in 2012.
Since the beginning of her career, she officiated 278 matches in the Men Competitions, 17 in the Top Bundesliga since 2017 and more than 150 matches in the Women competitions, 10 at UEFA Euros, 6 at FIFA World Cups, 20 at UEFA Champions League and 2 at Olympics.