A woman in Israel has made history as the first openly transgender referee to judge a match in the country's premier football league.
Sapir Berman blew the whistle in a match held in the northern city of Haifa on Monday. Some fans held signboards in her support.
Berman announced at a news conference last week that she had always seen herself as a woman.
(Sapir Berman / Football referee)
"There are players who already speak to me as a woman. They feel that they want to take part in this process, and speak to me even when it's not necessary."
Berman said nothing has changed for her on the pitch and that she will continue to pursue her dream to judge an international competition.
The Union of European Football Associations tweeted that Berman's is an inspirational story that highlights football's spirit of inclusiveness.
Sapir Berman blew the whistle in a match held in the northern city of Haifa on Monday. Some fans held signboards in her support.
Berman announced at a news conference last week that she had always seen herself as a woman.
(Sapir Berman / Football referee)
"There are players who already speak to me as a woman. They feel that they want to take part in this process, and speak to me even when it's not necessary."
Berman said nothing has changed for her on the pitch and that she will continue to pursue her dream to judge an international competition.
The Union of European Football Associations tweeted that Berman's is an inspirational story that highlights football's spirit of inclusiveness.
◆transgender 心と体の性が一致しない「トランスジェンダー」Someone who is transgender has a gender identity which does not fully correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth.
◆premier 最上位の Premier is used to describe something that is considered to be the best or most important thing of a particular type.
◆inclusiveness 包括（性）、包摂 If you describe a group or organization as inclusive, you mean that it allows all kinds of people to belong to it, rather than just one kind of person.