FIFA Referee Esther Azzopardi Farrugia is currently in Portugal participating in the 20th edition of the Algarve Cup, an annual invitational women’s football tournament hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) between the 6th and 13th March, after first having attended a FIFA Workshop from the 1st to the 4th.

Esther is one of only seven referees chosen from Europe, and one of fourteen referees from around the world at the Algarve Cup – the third most prestigious competition after the World Cup and the Olympic Games.

The match officials chosen for the Algarve Cup are usually the ones earmarked for a major championship, such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games.

Esther Azzopardi Farrugia’s first two appointments in the Algarve Cup were as fourth Official in the matches Portugal vs Wales and China vs United States respectively, while Monday 11th March is the date that marks her debut as referee of the China vs Iceland Group B match, being played at the Sports Complex Nora in Ferreiras, a southern Portughese municipality of Albufeira.

Photo: Copyright © Paul Zammit Cutajar