Sapir Berman made sports activities historical past on Monday, officiating at a soccer match in Israel’s Premier League for the primary time since popping out as transgender.
“This is step one in an extended and fantastic journey. Sapir, we’re proud to do it with you,” the Israel Football Association tweeted as she took the field for the contest between Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Haifa.
At a news conference last Tuesday in which she publicly announced her transition, Berman, at 26 already a top referee in Israel’s leading soccer league, said she had always seen herself as a female, even at a young age.
She told reporters that players had already begun using the feminine form of words in Hebrew when addressing her.
“They really feel that they want to somehow take part in this process and even speak to men when it’s not necessary and speak to me as a woman. So thank you,” Berman stated.
Outside the stadium within the northern metropolis of Haifa, one fan carried a banner that hailed Berman as a “tremendous lady, unimaginable, courageous”.
Berman is not the first transgender referee in the soccer world. A British soccer referee, Lucy Clark, came out as transgender in 2018.
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